Flutter
by Parsee
Summary: All she wants to do is to explore the world beyond her home. Instead she ends up trying to lead an army into victory and save the world from a madman—without anyone dying in the process. With a facade to maintain and many secrets to keep, there's only so much the "tactician" could do to keep herself afloat. /To be rewritten in another account!/
1. Flying Without Wings

**Hello, everyone, and welcome to another one of my stories. This is something I've meant to do years ago but didn't have the skill to do so... until now. As you will see, I've made some liberties with the game prologue because, let's face it, staying faithful to the script is already overdone. It's probably boring if I did the same, and thus, this. In any case, I hope I did well on this one. I've tried to make Nia as un-Mary Sue-ish as possible, despite her background.**

 **Let the show commence.  
**

* * *

 **One**

Flying Without Wings

 _There was once a time when dragons and men coexisted, a time of peace forged in wisdom—a time unimaginable to the generations of today._

 _But all good things had to come to an end. The humans, blinded by jealousy, ambition and fear accumulated throughout the centuries, had one day sought to dominate over the dragons. They disrupted the balance through a sudden onslaught, a war so savage that the very foundations of their world shook._

 _The dragons, in response, had no choice but to fight back. However, they knew that the humans were far more superior in number than the winged creatures will ever be; mighty as they already were, they would fall before they could even turn the tables. And despite their efforts to gain the upper hand against humankind, in the end, the dragons had no choice but to retreat and grant their enemies their victory. They passed through the Dragon's Gate, never to be seen again…_

 _This war was called The Scouring. And it had been a millennium since those dark days had ended._

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

One would have thought that the idea of such a dark moment in history would prevent her from ever leaving the safety of her village, but Nia prided herself for being a risk-taker. Even though… well… most of the time, things never worked out for her.

Yes, yes, she was perfectly aware by now that the humans living outside of her village would treat her far more differently than the humans of her village would. That is to say, they could treat her harshly the moment they found out who or _what_ she really was. Outsiders that were, by the way, greedy, ambitious, rude, judgmental, bloodthirsty, and any other negative characteristics that existed in their vocabulary. And _yes,_ for the love of the divine dragons or whoever or _what_ ever, the moment they find out where exactly she'd been living her whole life, she may as well signal the end of Arcadia.

For that was where she'd lived. Nice, wonderful, _hidden_ Arcadia, home to dragons and humans who refused to participate in that pointless war almost a thousand years ago. It was a village hidden somewhere in the great Nabata desert, on the southwestern side of the continent Elibe. And throughout her entire life, Nia had only known of two people who actually _found_ the place. It was impressive.

Still, she supposed that every Arcadian had a good reason to deter her from ever attempting to see the outside world, however much they knew it would be wiser to let one experience mistakes before one ever truly learned.

Nia was, after all, a _manakete_. Which meant that the moment any outsider found out that the girl grinning and chatting along with them was an honest-to-goodness dragon, she was as good as dead. Or worse. The fact that the world was not completely rid of dragons was a secret that those in Arcadia struggled to keep every day. For even just one person to find out the truth…

It would be a disaster.

But Nia was no caged bird. Considering how many centuries she'd already spent cooped up in one place, behaving like the nice, little dragon girl that she was with only books to stave off her boredom, she thought she _deserved_ even just a few moments of freedom. An opportunity to sate her curiosity about the world that had changed so much over the course of a millennium. Damn it, she wanted to destroy her cage so she could spread her wings and fly.

Figuratively speaking, of course. Being outside of Arcadia demanded her to remain in her human, _wingless_ form to blend in; a dragon flying by the mountains would sooner be struck down by arrows and ballistae than end up completely left alone.

And, anyway, she _had_ gotten out. Otherwise, she wouldn't have journeyed as far as she had now.

How many days had it been since she left, again? No… not days. Weeks, more like. She'd long escaped the wide expanse of sand, sand, and, oh joy, even _more_ sand. Sand that somehow managed to slip inside her leather boots and be the mother of all discomforts. The slightly uneven rocky ground that she currently walked on had been a much preferable alternative; Nia simply had to be careful not to step on something loose that may cause a landslide. Mountain paths could be tricky like that.

Nia was quite sure that she was in big trouble when she finally returned home, though. That much she was certain of. She'd quietly sneaked out of the village after spending years of observing the village guardians' patterns, memorizing it all until the memory came to her with zero effort. She'd patiently waited for the opportunity to present itself. And patience went hand-in-hand for those whom had already spent more than a century of living.

In fact, it was actually a miracle in itself that she managed to escape. Even the best plans went awry.

Of course, Nia was smart enough to take precautions, as well. She'd made sure that, before she left, she learned whatever she could of what to expect outside the village. Which meant studying about Elibe in whole, what countries it consisted of… etcetera, etcetera. She'd left her dragonstone—her source of power—behind, knowing that bringing it along was much riskier than traveling without it. After all, it could fall into the wrong hands, or worse—she'd accidentally transform and reveal to the world Arcadia's well-kept secret.

She'd also spent a lot of time shaping her new identity to mask her real one. Nia wasn't an idiot to traipse around Elibe without being able to stave off suspicion.

 _Although, in all honesty, I've always wanted to be a tactician_ , Nia thought. _I believe I have the brains for it. And a history of at least a dozen chess wins._

And so far, things had been smooth-sailing. She was currently traversing a mountain pass, which she believed would lead towards this country called… Bern. Right, she'd asked some travelers on the road for specific directions. She hadn't been to that part of Elibe yet, and she'd very much want to spend some time there.

Also, she wanted to see how cute wyverns were in reality.

As she continually walked, though, her stomach rumbled, making her slow down and frown to herself. A quick glance at the sun's position revealed that it was about noontime; because she'd skipped breakfast earlier, she was due for some food. And water, judging from the dryness of her throat and the afternoon heat making her sticky with sweat.

It was only when she'd completely stopped that she realized the sounds of footsteps she'd been hearing wasn't from hers alone. It struck her as odd, considering that the pass was currently traversed by only her. But then… hmm, she did remember passing by a cave before. Perhaps she'd disturbed whoever was living there? She _had_ been singing off-key a while ago because it had been so unbearably silent she could hear a pin drop.

Ah well, a quick word and a nice smile should do the trick. Her pointed ears were well-concealed by her carefully-styled brown hair. Nothing new here. She'd encountered non-Arcadian humans before, and she'd learned how to act around them.

 _I'll be fine._

Nia made sure her polite smile was ready, turning to face whoever was following her. However, she couldn't stop her nose from twitching at the scent that assaulted her nostrils as she heard the humans draw closer. It was like smelling a pair of stinky socks.

... _Or not._

Suddenly, she thought that she might have made a wrong course of action. _And_ , she added in her mind as her eyes grew wide and she took a cautious step back. _I believe a strategic retreat will be necessary here._

Because the evilly grinning men in front of her—one of them, to her disgust, was missing some teeth, disgustingly _yellow_ teeth—regarded her like a particularly delicious meat that had to be savored at once. She couldn't possibly describe it any other way, especially when the pairs of dark and beady eyes looking over her made her feel so… so filthy.

They were also armed, and they held their weapons in a way that let her know exactly what would happen if she resisted.

And she… well. She didn't know how to fight two against one, let alone one-on-one. There was no reason to learn combat when one lived in a village that only knew of peace. Perhaps as a dragon, she might have a chance at escape, if not victory she'd fight tooth and nail for… but right now, she was—as far as anyone was concerned—a human.

And she was as weak as one.

"I don't suppose you'll just let me go on my merry way and forget this ever happened, do you?" Nia asked cheerfully, trying not to look at their sharp weapons. She tried not looking at their faces either, ugly as it were.

"Yer first mistake was passin' through this place, little girl. Alone, no less." The man who could pass as their leader stepped forward with a threatening posture. It was no doubt his attempt to make her freeze in fear because he wanted to make sure that _he_ appeared larger than her. That he could easily overcome her because she was so tiny and harmless and it would be _easy_.

Right.

Actually, Nia felt more like she wanted to bristle at how condescending the words _little girl_ sounded. She couldn't though, so she held herself back (barely) and settled with an arch of her eyebrows. She was as little as a thirteen-year-old girl, yes, but she was no child.

There was no denying that this was an unwinnable confrontation, though. So without further ado, she turned and fled before those foul men even realized what she just did.

"Blast! Get her, and don't let the twit escape!"

Her heart pounded against her chest as she sped through the path before her. Because the road barely deviated from a straightforward path, she had no opportunity to lose the men behind her (and what did they actually want with her, anyway?). She could only run faster and faster until she could feel her legs burning and—

She skidded to a stop.

Before her was a cliff facing the Sacae plains below her, and if she kept running and looking over her shoulder, she'd have completely missed her first turn and gone straight off the edge. Her only consolation in this was the fact that she wasn't on a platform high enough that a fall would be fatal. But then, she wasn't on one low enough for her to end up unscathed, either.

Her brief recovery was all it took for her pursuers to easily catch up to her. In the end, she realized with a sinking feeling in her stomach that she hadn't run fast enough. Thus, closer and closer they came, the intent to kill clear in their eyes.

There was only one last option she could take, because running some more would just wear her down fast.

Before the men reached her, Nia spun on her heel and took a running leap off the cliff.

She belatedly realized that she didn't have her dragonstone to bring out her wings with as the ground rushed up to meet her with an eagerness of an excited puppy.

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

It was only later when she stirred that Nia realized she'd blacked out from the nasty fall.

A small whimper escaped her lips as she felt her forehead throb, reflexively bringing a hand up to massage the ache. Her fingertips ended up touching some sort of rough cloth instead of bare skin—which was a surprise.

She also smelled something… fragrant. Delicious, even. Cooked meat? Oh, yes, definitely meat. And… fruit. Yes, she could smell some fruit too. Nice and sweet—wait, she knew that aroma. Mangoes. They were her favorite fruit. She could also hear a faint sizzling from somewhere, now that her senses were slowly waking up. Something was definitely cooking, then.

Nia also realized that she was lying on something soft. Like a mattress, though not quite one. Mattresses didn't usually have this strange, earthy smell. They were also softer, from what she remembered, but at least this was just as comfortable.

She… was definitely not outside anymore.

 _I believe the moment for mystery is over_ , Nia idly thought and slowly blinked her lavender eyes open.

What she saw was the last thing she expected.

Her surroundings had all the appearances and the homey sensations of a house—a room. But at the same time… it wasn't. For one, she wasn't expecting her current shelter to be so… round in shape. Or, for that matter, made of cloth and some wood, if the walls and roof were any indication. It was a far contrast to the sort of house she had at home, which had been made of stone.

The look of surprise on her face must have expressed her thoughts, because Nia attention was snatched away from the numerous boxes of different shapes and sizes and towards a dark green-haired girl who'd cleared her throat. The girl's lip was curled upwards in an amused smile, her bright, equally green eyes staring right at her.

"Well, hello. You're my savior, then?" Nia asked as her way of greeting, shifting her position on the bed until she was sitting up. She winced slightly as her head throbbed again. Before the ponytailed girl could make move towards her with her eyebrows knit in worry, Nia raised a hand. "I'll be fine. It's just a little headache, so to say."

"You're sure?" The girl then asked, pausing from her movement. "You had been unconscious for quite a while now. I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't made a complete recovery yet."

"Huh? How long?" And then Nia's curiosity was ruined by her stomach that chose to rumble in an inopportune time. "…Oops. Well. It seems like that question can wait, on account of my empty tummy. I don't suppose that meal you cooked is for you alone?"

That made the girl's face soften a bit. She smiled. "There's plenty enough for the both of us. I'll be right back."

She left after retrieving a wooden bowl from a nearby shelf and returned with it filled with chopped meat, some rice, and sliced mangoes. Nia made a happy sound at the sight of it and instantly dug in. She'd been so hungry that she didn't bother asking for a spoon and used her hand to shove the bits of food into her mouth.

"It's been a day since I found you outside on the plains," the girl explained as Nia chewed and swallowed. "You're quite fortunate that whatever you fell from hadn't been too high. I wouldn't have known how to treat broken bones."

Nia decided not to acknowledge that she deliberately jumped off that cliff. And forgot she had no wings. "That... would be so terrible. So thanks, for saving me."

That made the girl smile widely. She took the now-empty bowl handed to her and placed it on top of a box for the meantime.

"Think nothing of it. I am Lyn, of the Lorca tribe. My apologies, I nearly forgot to introduce myself earlier." The girl, Lyn, said.

Nia shook her head and grinned. "No, no, _I_ should be the one to say sorry. I'm so silly to have forgotten to introduce myself first, after all. Me, a stranger in your hut—it _is_ a hut, right? Huts are round." Then she paused and realized that she had almost gone off on a tangent. "Oh! And I'm Nia."

Lyn chuckled. It was a pleasant sound. "A _ger_ , actually, but I am not surprised that a traveler like you wouldn't know that. And you say your name is Nia?"

The manakete bobbed her head up and down.

"I see. Nia. It _is_ quite odd-sounding when I say it, but please, don't pay me any mind. I'm sure it is a good name."

"I suppose it is; I'm not so sure if I find _any_ name pretty-sounding, myself. They all sound so foreign to me. But never mind that. I'm just really happy to have met such a nice person like you, Lyn." Nia said, causing a genuine smile to spread across Lyn's lips.

"You must have met a lot of people during your travels, then? You wear an attire not uncommon amongst travelers. What brings you to the Sacae plains?" There was no mistaking the curiosity and interest in Lyn's eyes. Here was a person who obviously hadn't left her home much, just like Nia before. The manakete had that kind of expression from time to time.

In any case, this was a question she could easily answer now. She had practice before.

"It's quite a long and fun story; I don't even know where to start!" Extra dose of enthusiasm? Check. "But I think—"

Nia was cut off by a loud commotion outside, a bad mix of angry voices and crashing sounds.

She made a move to stand up to peer at the rolled up flap that was this ger's window. But a hand on her shoulder stopped her before she could do so. She hadn't realized that Lyn had moved closer to her and took a peek at the window herself.

She looked at Lyn questioningly as the Sacaean withdrew with her brow furrowed.

"I couldn't see from here." Lyn answered with a shake of her head.

"Then… let's go outside. I could also use some fresh air." Nia offered.

Lyn shook her head. Whatever traces of her earlier expression was replaced by a thoughtful frown as she approached one of the boxes nearby and opened a long, red, rectangular one. A sword—it was pulled out and the sheath's strap was tied to the sash on her waist. "No. I don't believe you are fit to get out of bed just yet. So stay, and wait for my return. I'll see what the commotion is."

And she was gone before Nia could object any further. Well, then.

 _Let it be known that I'm poor at staying still._ Nia counted three seconds before she stood up—ow, stupid, hurting forehead—and shoved her feet into her boots. She fastened her green cloak on when she found it folded by the foot of her bed and, despite a dull ache in her left ankle, she quickly walked out of the ger.

The bright rays of the afternoon sun nearly blinded her, making her use an arm to shield her eyes. When they finally adjusted to the brightness, Nia set off to find Lyn.

And there the Sacaean girl was, using a particularly thick-looking tree to hide her frame with as she peered out into the distance. When Nia approached with a soft but upbeat "Hey." Lyn nearly jumped and whirled around with her sword pulled out and ready to stab.

Nia, unperturbed, simply shrugged apologetically as she eyed the blade. She idly realized that Lyn was at least two heads taller than her.

Lyn, on the other hand, was... embarrassed. More or less. She returned her blade to its sheath with her own apology written all over her face. And then marched towards Nia, none too pleased about her disobeying her order.

"I told you to stay indoors." Her voice was in a low whisper. "There are bandits around; it's unsafe to be outside."

"What? Really? Let me see!" Nia darted towards the tree before Lyn could object and peered curiously in the general direction the plainswoman was looking at.

"Oh. Well... Those were the men that were chasing me before," Nia whispered back, shoulders drooping. "I'd know their ugly faces from anywhere."

"They _what_?" Outrage practically _oozed_ from Lyn's words.

"They chased me and I had to jump off a cliff instead of getting myself caught; I had a feeling that they weren't up to anything good." She tapped her chin and _hmm'_ ed. "Then again, killing _is_ never good."

"I see…" Lyn's eyes narrowed at the faraway bandits and the hand on her blade's hilt tightened. "I've decided. I _will_ stop those men before they could do any more harm. To you, _and_ to the nearby villages. I can handle those numbers."

"Can I help?" Nia turned back to her with a hopeful look. "I would really want them dealt with."

"If you can fight, then by all means. However, you weren't armed with anything when I found you." Lyn pointed out.

Nia sheepishly scratched the back of her head, careful not to disturb the hair hiding her ears, and looked down. "Right... unfortunately, I haven't gotten to learn the art of going slicey-dicey with a sword." On second thought, she had an idea. _Tactics_. "Wait. I think I know how to help. How do you feel about being instructed in the battlefield?"

"What? Do you mean to ask if I respond well to commands?" Lyn asked. Up and down went Nia's head, accompanied by a smile. "Then yes. I should have no problems. I used to help my…" She faltered for a split second. Nia did not miss that brief flash of pain on her face. "My _father_ before."

Clearly, Lyn wasn't fine, whatever memory Nia accidentally made her bring up.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"That's quite alright. Let's just keep our heads to the task at hand."

"Right! So let's see..."

There were only two bandits, in the end. No more had come. Which was good, because Nia wasn't sure if she'd be good at helping Lyn out if there were _more_. But now… Now, Lyn had to take out that bandit without attracting the attention of another standing by the larger ger. Which shouldn't be too difficult.

"So long that bandit nearby isn't looking our way, we can launch a surprise attack against him." Nia felt more confident about her plan the moment she said it out loud. Even more after Lyn looked at her with a certain readiness in her face. "In fact… oh. I think this will work. We approach him from different directions. I won't be able to fight, but I will certainly be able to distract him. If he notices me first, then you'll be able to strike without consequence. If he notices _you_ first, then I throw a rock or something and get his attention. And then you strike. Easy-peasy. What do you think?"

Lyn appeared to mull over the plan, her eyes staring down at the grass for a couple seconds. When returned her gaze to Nia, steely determination could be seen in her eyes. "I think it's a good plan. Come, let's do this."

And so they did.

Just as Nia planned, she managed to catch the bandit's attention first. Directly walking towards the bandit in an air of casualness tended to do that, after all. She was even humming, though this time, she had no idea what kind of tune it was.

"Hello." Nia paused from her 'stroll' and gave the bandit a cheeky grin and a small wave when his grouchy face turned to her. "Nice day, isn't it?"

At first, he didn't recognize her. But five seconds later… "You. You're the one from—"

Alas, he didn't get to finish his sentence, surprise etched across his face when a sword pierced through his chest like a needle through a piece of cloth. He slowly rolled his eyes down to gaze at the blood dripping from his new wound, numb fingers touching the blade… then he died. Just like that. From behind, Lyn kicked his corpse away from her blade. She wiped her bloodied weapon with a piece of cloth from her satchel.

Nia beamed as her eyes met Lyn's. A grim smile was returned.

"Next one, then?" The Sacaean asked.

"Next one, then!"

And judging from the way Lyn regarded her with ill-concealed surprise in the form of her eyebrows raising just a fraction, Nia forgot that zeal and death were oil and water. Whoops. On the plus side, the Sacaean decided not to question her.

Moving on.

One more bandit, and they could call this a day and go back home.

There was no point in subtlety on this last one; he was standing guard in front of the large ger, his firm grip on his axe never slacking. From the way his eyes roamed, perhaps he was still waiting on more of his accomplices to come? Well, whatever it was he was doing at the moment, he needed to die. He troubled Nia, and now he was going to trouble Lyn _and_ the other villages. That couldn't be allowed to happen.

"Straightforward attack it is," Nia ended up mumbling. When asked what she had just said, Nia uttered her words once more in a louder voice. Lyn nodded and the two of them went to face the bandit.

Enraged did not begin to describe the man when he saw Nia.

" _You_." He growled out.

"Me." Nia practically sang out. "My apologies for running out on you earlier, but I don't spend time with stinky bandits." She stepped back to give Lyn space and beamed. "Oh, and meet my new friend. She hates bandits. And you're a bandit. So I say you two will get along _so well_!"

And as Lyn's way of saying hello, she immediately went on the offensive, charging straight at the man apparently called _Batta the Beast_ with her sword aimed to thrust.

Blocked. Batta had managed to position his axe in front of his chest just in time to meet Lyn's blade. The Sacaean leapt back before Batta pushed her away to make her lose her balance.

Nia, on the other hand, started searching the ground for any sizeable rocks. Pebbles simply wouldn't do for what she had in mind.

This time, Batta was the one who charged forward. He jumped several feet in the air, axe raised, and if he'd been faster than Lyn, he might have cleaved the girl into two. But he didn't, because Lyn dive-rolled to the right and brought herself up into a one-kneed kneel. She stood up and turned to attack once more—and this time, she managed to nip her blade at his upper arm before Batta could even attack again.

"Fast little bitch, aren't you?" Batta grunted as Lyn defiantly stared back at him. The bandit smirked. "Not for long, you ain't. I was tryin' to go easy on you, but I'm done playing!"

And then, anticlimactically, a rock smashed into his head and knocked his head forward.

 _Take that, scumbag_.

 _Nia_ stood at least three feet away from behind Batta, tossing another rock in her hand up and down. She eyed Lyn meaningfully. The girl immediately got the hint and started charging forward.

But Nia didn't foresee how _fast_ Batta would recover. He was upon her before she could completely step away. So before Lyn had swung her sword to behead the bandit, _Batta_ had managed to give Nia a parting gift in the form of a swift axe swing to her stomach. And then his head popped off.

"NIA!"

It was like her stomach was chewed on by wolves, doused in oil, and set on fire.

But despite the pain, Nia still managed a weak grin as she watched her own blood drip thickly into the grass, sagging down until she knelt on the ground. The hand gripping her other rock slacked and let the object drop to the ground. Lyn was by her side at once.

Ooh, not good. Her vision was going black, and every sound had muted to a level that reminded her of the time she stuffed cotton into her human form's ears. She watched, dazed, as Lyn's mouth opened and closed.

 _Sorry_ , Nia thought she managed to say. _But I can't hear you. Cotton-stuffed ears.  
_

At least she died without anyone finding out her secrets.

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

But then she didn't.

Nia opened her eyes to the familiar setting from before, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu as saw Lyn standing before her. Relief was written all over her face.

"Good morning. I was worried you will never awaken this time, you know," Lyn softly said as she knelt down to give Nia a closer look.

Nia's stomach, upon closer inspection, was bandaged. Thickly. A strange smell that reminded her of a poultice emanated from the wound, and apparently, she was as bare as a newborn babe with only a white blanket to cover her.

 _It's… always interesting to see my human form's bare body, even now,_ she thought without any embarrassment, looking away from her pale skin. She grinned at Lyn but made no move to sit up. The Sacaean went to sit down by her feet.

"Okay. How long was I gone this time?" Nia asked.

"Three days. Next time, Nia, stay at a safe distance." Lyn said, then she sighed and shook her head. "So how are you feeling now? Better? I had to use all my vulneraries to ensure your recovery went well."

Nia poked her stomach. There was a faint ache still, but she thought she would manage. Vulneraries didn't treat wounds as well as elixirs. But they did the job all the same. And so, Nia finally propped herself up and felt happy when her wound merely stung and did no more. Just the same dull sensation from before.

"Well enough." Nia answered, smiling. "In fact, I would give myself a day or two before I'm ready to move on from here because I want to go to Bern and…" She trailed off upon seeing Lyn's face. "Did I say something wrong?"

Because the relieved look on Lyn's face was replaced by that of complete seriousness.

"I was just reminded of something I've been meaning to talk to you about. Seeing as you're well enough for conversation..." The Sacaean took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Look, I can see that you've had some experience in the ways of war." Nia didn't. "So… I will make my words plain: I want to travel with you."

If Nia had been eating any food, she might have choked. Poor, imaginary food. "...I beg your pardon?"

"I have said what I've said. I want to travel with you."

"Oh. Um. One second." Nia bowed her head and tried to process the words in her mind. This was... she didn't... that is to say... _damn_. "But… say, wouldn't you need… consent? I recall you speaking about your father the other day."

"…My father is dead."

Those words, so hollow, and it made Nia's stomach flip uncomfortably. Lyn's eyes were distant, as if recalling a memory…

"I see." Nia didn't know what to say. She'd seen life begin and end before; she was used to it. "I'm... sorry."

"It's… it's alright, Nia." Lyn shut her eyes. Several seconds later, she opened them again; her eyes shone with tears. "I guess you should know my story. This happened six months ago. You see, I… my mother and father—and the rest of my tribe—they died. Bandits killed all of them, without mercy. They spared no one... not even the children." Lyn took a deep, shaky breath and shook her head. Her hands had subconsciously balled into a fist. "I still get nightmares about that day. I couldn't do anything, no one would listen to _me_ , and... and..."

Lyn silently cried.

Nia moved to soothingly rub her shoulder, unsure of what to say.

It was only a few seconds later when Lyn finally managed to compose herself with one last sniff.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that. It's just—I have been alone for so long." A few more tears slipped down her cheek, which the Sacaean hastily swiped at with her sleeve. "I'm truly happy to meet you, you know? You made me realize that I will never grow strong enough to avenge everyone's deaths by staying here. I am strong enough to protect myself… but it is not enough."

"But..." Nia quietly replied. "I don't even know _how_ I can help you get stronger. I'm still learning the flow of combat and the like, myself. Three days ago... it was a fluke, and you saw what happened to me."

"We'll help each other." Lyn said without hesitation. "So please, Nia. Think about it. I would be ever so joyous to accompany you in your travels."

She looked away, unsure. But when she hesitantly brought her eyes up to meet Lyn's...

 _No_. Her mind screamed.

No. Because Nia still had a facade to maintain. And secrets. To keep. And having Lyn around... would complicate things. A lot. For one, how could she return home without leaving a sad person behind?

So no. Because no human outside of Arcadia must _never_ find out that a dragon had walked among their lands.

And no. She didn't want to lie to Lyn, but she'd have no choice but to do so. To continually do so. And the guilt of doing _that_ would probably accumulate until she couldn't take it anymore and when Lyn found out she would _explode_ and...

"When you look at me that way, how can I say no?"

She could only say yes.

Because, at the end of the day, Nia was still a risk-taker. Maybe this time, things would work out for her.

"Thank you! You won't regret your decision, I promise!" Lyn pulled her into a careful hug, trying not to irritate the manakete's wound.

Nia could only hope that Lyn wouldn't hate her when the truth finally came up someday. Because it _will_. It was all a matter of how much time she could borrow.

No one, not even a _dragon,_ could hide forever.

* * *

 **Please review and let me know what you think! I would very much like to know what else you might want to see in the future. :)**


	2. Trapped in a Web

**Two**

Trapped in a Web

"Sophia, what did you see?"

The moment the vision appeared in her mind, she had immediately gone to one of the elders to share it. She is, after all, the only person in Arcadia who possesses the power to see into the future, albeit unclearly. She doesn't know how she came to be born with them—and sometimes she thinks it was just baggage that came along with being a half-dragon—but she does know that the elders will value her insight.

Especially now, when it concerns that of a certain someone who had slipped away from the village the night when the guardians were most distracted. The barriers hiding Arcadia deep in the Nabata Desert had been disturbed, but whether it had been tampered with by the escapee herself—as distraction—or Arcadia had truly come dangerously close to being discovered, she does not know. In fact, nobody does.

"I cannot completely see, but…" Sophia begins in a soft voice. She has always spoken slowly, demonstrating how shy she usually was. "I see light… it surrounds her. She is in good hands… And… she remains unsuspected."

Sophia could not properly see who accompanies her friend, but she feels nothing negative, either.

"I see. She has always been a curious one. Never one to sit still, that dragon…" the Elder chuckles slightly at the thought of Nia. "Smart, as well. But reckless. Always reckless. Has her stone been hidden in a safe location? She had the sense to leave it behind, but apparently, not the sense to keep it concealed."

She nods slowly, her eyes solemn as always. "Yes, Elder. I… have hidden it myself. I know her best hiding place… She has shared to me many of them."

"Good. And what of Arcadia?" The Elder proceeds to ask.

"As for Arcadia… I… could see no darkness looming over us. I believe we are safe, Elder. For now..."

"Then for now, all is well. Nia's… departure, sets the whole of Arcadia in unease, and understandably so. But her letter dictates that she promises to return eventually, claiming that she is aware of the consequences of her actions and will always be cautious as a result. Nia has proven thus far that she is a dragon of her word, so I shall have no choice but to wish her the best. For the meantime."

"But…?" She quietly prompts, knowing that the Elder isn't finished.

"But, we may have to send out someone willing to bring her back. I have no wish to have anyone make contact with the outside, but this must be done if we are to keep Arcadia's secrets close to our chest."

"Yes. That is… for the best. Nia is… kind-hearted, but she risks so much…"

"Indeed. We can only hope that no trouble befalls her while she is outside."

Sophia nods before politely asking to leave. At the Elder's sound of assent, she departs. She makes her way down the temple's stone steps, her long, lavender hair trailing behind along with her dark cloak.

She has, at the end, failed to mention that whatever path Nia had now taken, there was no straying from it now. Sophia doesn't know if the future is truly set in stone, but so far, her visions have yet to go wrong. If only Nia was at least a half-dragon like she, then no one would be able to tell her apart from a normal human…

What had made Sophia hold her tongue, however, was the fact that whatever the manakete was walking into, it was also filled with shadows.

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

"So, Nia, are you ready to depart?" Lyn questioned the manakete who emerged from ger, carrying a bulging backpack by the straps—wait a minute. When the Sacaean noticed the oddity, blinking, she added in a dry tone, "I'm hoping you didn't bring half of my ger in there."

To be fair, Lyn's satchel _did_ look ridiculously small when compared to Nia's pack. It was like… a tiny mouse to an oversized cat, the manakete decided. But then, did her pack really seem that big? She thought it wasn't. It hadn't bothered her in the slightest when she carried it around.

(Or perhaps that was just the dragon in her speaking? Since… well… her true form _was_ as big as a house, if not bigger. It depended upon the architecture, really.)

"Nope! Just one-fourths of it. Or, perhaps, one-fifths." Nia merrily replied, slipping her arm through one strap, and the other to another. She beamed at Lyn's incredulous face. "Oh, don't look at me like that. It's just extra clothes, my bedroll, and a book or two. Let it be known to the world that I am the absolute worst in the art of neatly folding clothes."

Lyn shook her head disbelievingly and found herself chuckling. Nia wasn't far from assuming that the Sacaean might take her more seriously in the future and offer to fold her clothes for her. _When_ she found out about the horrifyingly creased states of the manakete's clothes. "I never did pay much attention to your pack's contents when I put it aside."

"I can't blame you. We do have the unspoken law of never touching someone else's belongings." Nia lightly said. The manakete waggled a finger. "It could mean your death, after all. You'll never know when a snake pops out and bites the unwary thief's hand. A scorpion, even! Be constantly vigilant."

"And, of course, I'd do well to heed my tactician friend's advice," Lyn bantered back. And then she reminded Nia, "You still haven't answered my first question, by the way,"

"Oh, now that you mentioned it, maybe I _do_ need to bring the rest of your ger with us. What say you to portable homes?" Nia joked again. Before Lyn could open her mouth to speak, Nia raised a hand. "Alright, I know, that's quite enough of that. I'm ready as ever, Lyn. Although, I just remembered something from a couple days ago, and I probably should not have cared, but: what did you decide to do with the bandits' carcasses? I don't smell anything odd in the air."

At this, a flash of anger appeared on Lyn's face. Nia blinked and thought, _Uh-oh, wrong question._

But when Lyn looked her way and realized that Nia's smile threatened to form into a guilty frown, the Sacaean took a deep breath and calmed down. "If you're asking because of the tale I shared with you the other day, then consider yourself curious no longer: I buried them, even though I believe that they deserved to rot where they had fallen."

"Well, that's good. The grass, trees, and flowers did nothing to deserve being witness to their decomposing bodies." Whew, Lyn wasn't about to be cross with her, after all. Nia practically sagged in relief. "No one appreciates the stink of decay. And besides, isn't it bad for the health to end up sniffing any of that?"

"You do have a point... But let's not talk about that any longer, alright? Those bandits don't deserve even the minutest of moments to be thought about. So come on, let's just head to Bulgar."

"Bulgar?"

"It is Sacae's commercial city, located southeast from here. We ought to stock up on supplies for the journey." Lyn explained. Nia felt her excitement bubbling at the word _city_ ; she'd never been to one before. All she'd visited so far were small towns—and even those were a marvel already. "You said that you wanted to go to Bern, yes? That's to the south of Sacae, across the mountain range. And even if we have no business in Bulgar, we'll be passing along it, anyway."

Nia clapped her hands, grinning widely. "Then Bulgar it is! I, for one, can't wait to get moving."

Lyn found Nia's sunny expression absolutely contagious, immediately forgetting her ire towards bandits. "Then let's go. Since it's early in the morning, we'll most likely be there by noon."

Several hours' worth of walking was in store for the both of them, then. That dimmed her excitement a bit. In all honesty, Nia wasn't completely sure what to think about that; she'd often take breaks when she'd been traveling by herself. She was by no means unfit, but her exercises had never been intense, either.

 _Hmm, an unhealthy dragon, plump like a chicken,_ she then thought idly. _Now there's an odd image. Come to think of it, why do most Divine Dragons look like gigantic chickens? And why am I not exempted?  
_

But, perhaps it wasn't as bad as she'll think with Lyn along. Having someone to chat with during the long walk would be a good distraction for her future achy feet. And, not to mention, there was also the fact that the manakete would very much enjoy seeing how far the grass stretched out before her. That never got tiring. It reminded her that the world was a million times larger than she'd imagined.

"Although…"

"Hm? What is it, Nia?"

Nia chuckled awkwardly.

"…I don't really have any money on me."

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

The good news: the both of them reached Bulgar without any incident. Granted, Nia had asked for a moment or two to rest her feet ("They were crying in despair, Lyn. Have a heart.") and Lyn kindly let her, along with deciding to shoulder all the money they'd use for food, but one could still say that the journey, overall, was as smooth as marble.

The bad news: Bulgar was _teeming_ with people. And it wasn't just the Sacaeans—distinguished by their colorful, patterned attires—that were currently visiting the city and doing business. There were also the Etrurians, whose attires were mostly in light colors with a design that made their wearers look particularly graceful (and noble); the Bernese, who seemed more like the kind of folks who wouldn't be caught dead without some sort of armor on; and lastly, the Ilians, who were clothed lightly yet still bothered by the afternoon sun in this part of Elibe; they were much more used to the cold up north. Not to mention more used to dressing in several layers of clothing.

Bulgar was, after all, the center of commerce between the aforementioned nations. Some people from Lycia might go there occasionally to do some trading, but that nation was geographically too far from Sacae to be worth the effort.

But why was a city filled to the brim with humans so bad, you ask?

Because Nia had been so awed and distracted by the sights (so many buildings!) that she didn't realize she'd lost sight of Lyn. One moment, she was with the Sacaean as they entered through the gates. And then on another, the manakete was all alone. It was quite baffling, really.

It didn't help that Nia was quite small in stature; it meant that not only would she have difficulty finding Lyn, Lyn would also have difficulty finding her.

"What a wonderful predicament you've landed yourself into, dear Nia…" Nia murmured to herself as she walked down the street, hungrily eyeing a stall or two. The colorful fruits those women were selling were making her drool, especially when mangoes were involved, but… She shook her head.

Focus. She must focus.

 _Dragon girl loses her human within the big city. That's the sort of news a carrier pigeon would be eager to spread throughout the land._ Nia sighed.

Somehow she ended up walking towards the central area of the city, which happened to be the marketplace and was thus filled with even more stalls selling things ranging from jewelries to meat. She politely declined the merchants' invitations to check out their wares.

"I beg your pardon, milady," a voice asked from behind her. Curious, Nia paused from her search to face the man.

For it was a man who had gained her attention. Nia couldn't help but notice how _red_ his chest plate was. Like shiny apples. And his hair… it was orange. Yes, definitely orange, just like the fruit itself—and she was most certainly craving for some fruit now. What was up with today and fruits?

"Yeeees? Something I can help you with?" Nia clasped her hands behind her back. She realized that the man was accompanied by another, one with the same kind of armor—except it was green—and with a head of sandy brown hair. He could easily be mistaken as her brother, if not for the difference in eye color.

"There is this person my companion and I are in search of. Have you, by any chance, heard of a woman named Lyndis?" The man politely asked. "She is said to reside here in Sacae."

Nia blinked, tapping her cheek. "I daresay I haven't met anyone of that name. I'm not a local. But I do have this friend called Lyn. She's a Sacaean, too." Then she grinned. "And a very nice one at that."

"Oh?" The other man—Green, Nia dubbed—interjected before Red could speak. "Does the beautiful lady before me know, then, where to find this Lyn? I would be most appreciative of your help in locating her."

" _Sain,_ don't you even start again—"

"What? Kent, I'm just asking if she could take us to her." Green said. Well, perhaps she ought to call him Sain, now that she had a name to go by. But referring to people as colors was always a good source of entertainment… "After all, the sooner this is done, the more time I'll have for spending time with the lovely women on here, don't you think? I've never seen so much breathtaking beauty in one place!"

The man, Kent, appeared to be willing himself not to hit his companion at the back of his head. Nia saw the way his hand twitched. And the way he scowled.

"You dolt. We're here on a mission. _Not to find women to flirt with_." Kent said in a clipped tone. With an apologetic expression, he returned his gaze to Nia. "My apologies for having you witness my friend's… oddity. Might you take us to this Lyn, then? There may be a chance she is who we're looking for."

And that was when Nia awkwardly chuckled. "Well… you see… I'm, ah, looking for her, too. I lost her in the crowd. Well, more like she lost me, as I've ended up wandering without her supervision."

"What a shame." Sain then said. "Would you like me—us—to keep you company, for the meantime? It would be unbecoming of me to leave a delicate flower such as yourself unattended. And it must be said: you have a mesmerizing pair of eyes."

Nia was painfully oblivious to whatever advances Sain was making, much to Kent's visible relief. "Really? They remind me of flowers when I look at the mirro—oh! Never mind that, I see my friend!"

She did. Past the two chatting elderly women, a ponytailed head of dark green hair could be seen looking here and there, brows knitted together in worry. Nia stretched her hand out and waved, calling her name and bouncing up and down with the eagerness of a child. In fact, she might have acted _too_ excited; the chatting women looked towards her with scandalized expressions before moving to a location with lesser disturbances.

Lyn, thankfully, noticed her. Nia would be surprised if she still didn't. A relieved smile stretched across the plainswoman's face as she bounded towards her companion with a satchel that appeared much fatter than before.

"I've been looking all over for you! What happened?" Lyn asked. And after realizing that Nia wasn't alone, "And who are these men you're with?" Her eyes narrowed at them. "They're not accosting you, are they?"

"Ooh, three questions at once. Alright, in order: I ended up enjoying Bulgar too much that I forgot I wasn't alone—sorry!—and these are Kent and Sain. They're looking for someone named Lyndis and they wondered if I knew anyone of that name." Nia explained, gesturing to the two behind her. "And nope, I'm fine. I could sense that they mean well, so I didn't leave them."

Lyn appeared to calm down as she confirmed that her friend was, indeed, right as rain. But then…

"Lyndis?" Lyn echoed and blinked, a peculiar expression on her face as she regarded the two knights with renewed wariness.

"You are Lyn, then?" There was a certain intensity in Kent's eyes as he examined Lyn, who boldly stared back. "Yes, I believe I see the resemblance…"

The Sacaean did _not_ appreciate the way he looked at her, in the end. Her eyes narrowed once more. But before Lyn could even speak up, Sain stepped past Kent, almost pushing him back, and approached her with a silly smile on his face.

"Why, you are such a dazzling vision of loveliness, milady! I sincerely believe that no portrait shall ever be able to hold such beauty."

Lyn looked… more disturbed, to say the least. In fact… did Nia just notice the Sacaean's hand creeping closer to the hilt of her sword? Was she about to see some slicey-dicey action before her? Was _she_ even ready for that kind of commotion?

"And where are you and your companion from, sir knight, to so freely address strangers?"

"Ah, a question I'll be proud to answer! We hail from Caelin, milady, home to men of passion and fire!"

"…I may have to remind myself not to visit Caelin, if that is the case."

"Is your friend always like this? He's so weird." Nia decided to question Kent, watching Sain toss one flowery word after another to her continually bothered friend. No matter how cruel Lyn's retorts were, the green knight remained undeterred. "And… oh, hey, that's interesting. You're both from Lycia, then? That's the nation consisting of various territories, each ruled by a marquess, correct? How far you both have come!"

"Indeed. And unfortunately, this is one of the moments when I question my friendship with that lout." Kent muttered, palming his forehead and shaking his head.

"Nia!" Lyn finally shouted in irritation, making Nia and Kent glance over her in surprise. The Sacaean took ahold of her arm. "We're leaving. I have nothing more to say to this callow oaf whose tongue is far too loose for anyone's comfort."

"Wait, but—" Kent blurted out in an attempt to stop the plainswoman. He became the recipient of one of Lyn's glares, the rest of his words dying in his mouth.

"But nothing. My apologies, sir. You seem more _respectable_ than your friend here, but my patience is at its end. We still have a long journey ahead of us." Lyn curtly said before pulling Nia away with her.

"Good bye, you two." Nia managed to say over her shoulder as she kept pace with Lyn. "May you find your Lyndis soon!"

Human interaction, Nia decided then, was as colorful as a portrait.

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

"You would do well to be more wary of those who talk to you, you know," Lyn told her as they departed through Bulgar's southern gate. Nia politely smiled at the guards stationed there, as if to silently apologize for her friend's current mood. The guards nodded at her in acknowledgement before she turned away to face the road.

"But I wasn't speaking for them when I claimed that _they_ had not a single drop of maliciousness in them." Nia insisted, hardly offended.

It was true, though Lyn wouldn't understand what she really meant, and would thus dismiss the manakete's opinion as something rooted from intuition—and naivety, to a degree. Nia hadn't the faintest idea how, but she had this… power, if one could call it that, to detect whether someone had ill intentions or not. It was probably a dragon thing, since, well, each dragon (or half-dragon) had their own powers, ranging from seeing the future to detecting danger before it happened.

In fact, her power was the reason why she immediately fled the bandits from several days ago, long before they could completely brandish their weapons.

Not that she got away unscathed, anyway.

"Still, I'd exercise caution. You were lucky that it's two knights—though of questionable character—who have found you, not an outlaw." Lyn told her. "You don't even know how to defend yourself."

Nia wanted to wince at that. Honestly, it was a miracle that she was still alive thus far.

"Well, I'm not about to argue with a friend, despite my personal opinion," Nia amended. "And you _could_ teach me how to wield a sword, you know! So I can be your partner-in-crime in the battlefield. Bandits shall quake in fear as they become witness to our peerless swordplay."

"Peerless might be a stretch, but I'd say teaching you a good idea." Lyn replied, smiling. She gave Nia a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Tell you what, we can go over some exercises tonight when we stop for camp."

Nia turned her head towards the Sacaean with a bright smile—that immediately transformed into a surprised frown as she felt her stomach flip uncomfortably. Her eyes widened, and without pausing to think, she knocked herself and Lyn down to the ground.

There was no mistaking the whooshing sound above the two as Nia heard something embed itself in a nearby tree with a loud _thunk_.

"What on earth—" Lyn said as she pulled herself up. When she looked at _what_ had hit the tree, she made a sharp intake of breath. "A hand axe?"

"I think I may have saved your life just then…" Nia murmured as she untangled herself from her cloak, standing up slower than Lyn. Her hair, much to her relief, was undisturbed from the action and still hid her ears. "That was meant to decapitate you, I think."

"That's right, little lass." Someone said, making the two turn whirl towards the source of the voice. "It's just too bad you had to ruin my fun."

Another bandit, it seemed, judging from the tattered clothes, the unkempt hair, and the obviously devious expression on his face. He also had a backup weapon, seeing as the other one was meant for throwing and would require the owner retaking it before using it the second time.

He wasn't alone, either. The man whistled, and from their hiding places up on the thick branches of the trees, three more bandits jumped out. Each had varying degrees of dirt on their faces. Nia, for this moment, was finding it hard to appreciate the existence of forests.

The low branches and the thick foliage could make combat difficult for either side, after all…

"Lyn," Nia began, stepping back and eyeing the man's accomplices. No, there was too many. Lyn was skilled, but even with Nia's guidance, they'd be hard-pressed for a victory. "I would very much like to say that now is a good time to retreat."

The Sacaean stubbornly shook her head, eyes glinting in challenge. "We can't give up. Not now. I refuse to be felled by one of them."

"Bold words, _Lyndis_. It's just too bad you're gonna die anyway. What a damned shame to kill a pretty wench like you, but a man's gonna do whatever it takes to earn his gold." The man responded mockingly before pointing his finger at her. "Get her!"

"Scold me later. We're going back to the city—we get the guards' attention, they fight the bandits, and then you join in on the melee!" Nia exclaimed and managed to pull Lyn along with her effortlessly. The Sacaean must've realized the futility of her decision at the last minute and cooperated. Grudgingly. That was the only reason Nia could think of.

So run they had, with several bandits pursuing them. Their surroundings was a blur as they sprinted like their lives depended on it. But then, they _did_.

Fortunately for them, what met them down the grassy path was a pair of familiar-looking knights whom Nia realized were actually following them, pulling their horses with them by the reigns. Thank the deities (or whoever). Or St. Elimine, as most humans would put it.

"Bandits… behind us… _help_." Nia stumbled towards Sain, her legs finally giving in. The man gallantly helped her up as she gasped for breath. _At least Lyn's faring better when it comes to stamina_ , she thought, gazing at the Sacaean who finally pulled out her sword and whirled around to bravely face the incoming group.

"They're out for blood. _My_ blood, as it turns out." Lyn said angrily. "I don't know who they are, but they will regret attempting on my life."

"We'll help you," Kent responded, mounting himself atop his steed. His sword slid out of its scabbard, glinting under the afternoon sun. "I have an idea as to why they'd want you dead."

"But we'll tell them later, won't we, my friend?" Sain asked, mirroring Kent's movements as soon as Nia finally detached herself with a grateful smile. "I can see them coming. Those cads dare attack two girls with such numbers? What cowards!" He directed a confident grin at Nia and Lyn. "Don't worry, we'll see this through. They'll find themselves speared before they make a move!"

"This is my fight, but Nia's convinced me that I'll never win this one by myself. So yes, I appreciate the help." Lyn replied.

Nia finally managed a sheepish grin. "And, may I suggest something, Sain? You said 'spear'. I say, you're better off stabbing with a sword. Because they use axes, and they're just going to end up cutting your spearhead into two. We wouldn't want that."

"Really, now? Well, speaking of swords… I _might_ have a problem here." Sain guiltily admitted before brandishing his spear. "I haven't been able to purchase a sword back in the city. So… I'll make do with a lance—it's more heroic, anyway!"

Before Kent could object, Sain had snapped his horse's reigns and charged forward. The red knight frowned disapprovingly and muttered something incomprehensible (about his companion, no doubt) before following suit. Soon, the two knights were locked in combat, though Kent was obviously having an easier time than Sain, who immediately missed his first blow and suffered for his mistake.

"I see only three—the boss is out of sight." Nia said as Lyn stood protectively in front of her. She blew at her fringes. "Ooh, typical. Leave the fighting to the grunts, and then swoop in for the kill when everyone's tired from all the fighting."

"Coward, indeed. If you have any advice for me right now, you best say it." Lyn readjusted her grip on her sword and kept her eye at the bandit running towards her. Apparently, he was too intimidated by the two knights and opted for an easier target.

"Oh, that's easy. Don't die." Nia said simply, beginning to take several steps back and eyeing a nearby, _climbable_ tree in interest. "And use your surroundings to your advantage. There are many trees around us; the low branches could interfere with the attacks from either you or the bandit. The trunk could buy you some free hits when your enemy accidentally hits it with his axe and _he's_ distracted with pulling it out. Tell Kent and Sain the same thing, please; I'll be right behind you as soon as these men are dealt with."

"I'm glad you're trying to be more careful this time." Lyn said before running forward and engaging the third bandit.

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

The leader of the group, Zugu, apparently thought he was going to be walking away with Lyndis' head in a sack and a thousand Gold richer. But then he soon found himself at the mercy of two knights and two _girls_. What an embarrassment to bandits everywhere.

Despite the odds not being in his favor, the man charged forward, anyway, throwing an insulting comment towards the interfering knights as he picked his target. He'd set his sights on Nia, the only person in the group that was weaponless and as harmless as a newborn kitten. And Nia, in turn, had stared at him in a deceptively innocent way, unmoving.

 _Lyn_ had, predictably, stepped in his way and blocked his axe. Nia nodded at Kent, who stepped right behind Zugu and finished the man with a clean stab through the heart. Sain made an idle comment about the knight in red being able to impress the ladies a lot better than he could, much to Kent's exasperation and Nia's amusement.

"With that done, why don't you two explain to me what this whole thing was all about?" Lyn asked, sheathing her sword and standing beside Nia. "What is your business here with this... Lyndis?"

Sain moved in to explain for Kent, who was busily dabbing at his bloody sword with a cloth, and said, "Well, you see, Kent and I originally intended to relay a message to Lady Madelyn, the marquess of Caelin's daughter, whom had eloped to the Sacae plains with the man who was now her husband. I'm not sure of the specifics, but it's been said that Lady Madelyn might have done that to avoid a political marriage to another man. The marquess was understandably heartbroken to find out his daughter would abandon him so."

Kent nodded, his task completed. "And this year, we received a letter from Lady Madelyn herself. When she'd stated that she, her husband, and her daughter were living happily in Sacae, her father the marquess had been overjoyed to find out that he had been a grandfather for eighteen years and counting. He'd stopped pretending that his daughter didn't exist."

"And that the granddaughter's name is Lyndis." Lyn said, and the two knights nodded yes.

"In fact, the marquess became twice as happy after realizing that Madelyn had named her daughter after his wife, whom had passed away at an early age." Sain explained. "Now, the marquess of Caelin's only wish is to meet his daughter's family at least once. But unfortunately, it seems that we were too late; we've only just found out that Lady Madelyn perished, along with her husband, from a bandit attack six months ago."

"So… that's why it's so important for you two to locate Lyndis." Nia cut in, reminding everyone that, yes, she hadn't sneaked away from the group while they were busy conversing. She looked at the Sacaean beside her knowingly. "Congratulations are in order, then—you still have a family after all, Lyn!"

"Wait, how did you—" Lyn asked in surprise, only to be cut off with a raised hand.

Nia grinned widely. "I may say the strangest things at times, but I am not blind! I've seen the way you react whenever the name came up. Kent here also mentioned how he could see the resemblance between you and your mother. I put two and two together, now that I've heard their tale."

"Yes. I am sorry to say that I've never met your mother directly, Lady Lyndis, but I've seen her portraits back in castle Caelin." Kent said.

"I—I see." Lyn was having difficulty forming her next words. In fact, her voice shook a little. "Never have I imagined that I'll hear that name again… usually, it's only my parents who called me that. Never the rest of the tribe."

"There remains the question of why someone wants Lyn dead, though." Nia pointed out. "Is it something of a political nature, then? I've read that that isn't new when it came to nobles wanting a bigger slice of that nice, large cake."

A stormy expression formed in the two knights' face. And Sain, for the first time since Nia met him, was as close as he could to being angry.

"Lungdren's doing, no doubt." He answered, a hand forming into a fist.

"Yep, I knew it." Nia sighed. "Assassinations are power-hungry nobles' favorite pastime, it seems."

No one decided to comment at that.

"To explain, Lungdren is your grandfather's brother, milady. Lady Madelyn was supposed to be the next in line as Caelin's ruler, but seeing as she had left for the plains and wasn't heard of until recently, Lord Lungdren was supposed to inherit the title. But it seems that he found out about your existence first. Bluntly put, milady, you are an obstacle to his plans, and he will do whatever it takes to eliminate you." Kent explained.

"But," Lyn was visibly having trouble digesting all this information. She helplessly looked at Kent and Sain. "I've no intentions to inherit a title. Any title, for that matter. What shall I do, then? Lungdren will only keep attempting to have me killed—and Nia, as well, simply for the crime of being with me."

 _And_ , Nia thought then. _That would be one kind of web that I probably wouldn't want to be trapped in_.

"I believe I have a suggestion for that," Kent answered readily. "You'll have to accompany us to Caelin. For both of your protection."

"I'm sorry, Nia," Lyn quietly said to the manakete, turning to her. "I've no choice but to say yes. So indeed, Kent. Sain. I agree to join you."

On second thought, perhaps she'd been long trapped in a web. And she'd knowingly stuck herself into one the moment she left Arcadia.

What should she do now, though? If anything, this was her opportunity to part ways because Lyn was now left in the good hands of Kent and Sain. She could forget about going to Bern, and maybe to Lycia, too, and simply return to the monotony of spending one lazy day after another in Arcadia. No more pretending to be a human when she was actually a dragon in every way. No longer would she have to keep her hair carefully arranged in a way that her ears were hidden. Her village's secrets would remain a secret to the world for the millenniums to come, and, sure, she was certain to be punished for running away. But that one she could deal with.

On the other hand… did she really want to give up her freedom right now? It's barely been a month since she'd left. There was so much of the world she had yet to see. And there were far more excitements in living a life outside her village. In her own color analogy, Arcadia would be a dreary gray; the rest of the world would be a rainbow.

So what else could she say but yes, once more?

"That's alright, Lyn! I'm with you every step of the way." Nia beamed, even though, right now, she'd very much want to scream for being unable to say no again. Such a nasty flaw. "After today, we're no stranger to danger, aren't we? So yes. Yes, I'll come with you. And maybe I'll get to gain more experience as a tactician this way, hm?"

"So, is that why you cannot fight, Lady Nia? I did appreciate the advice that Lady Lyndis passed to me, however." Kent decided to say. At Nia's (falsely) happy nod, he added, "I do believe we have teachers in Lycia who may help you in your chosen career path. If not, we can help you enroll at an academy in Bern or Etruria once this whole mess is settled. It's the best way to repay your kindness."

"I thank you for the offer, Kent." Nia replied cordially. Actually, she planned to slip away and return to home once this was over, but a half-truth would work best right now. "But let's just see where this leads for the meantime, alright? I'd rather not stick to a goal just yet, save getting Lyn to Caelin and fixing this dispute."

"Then, wonderful!" Sain finally said, grinning from ear to ear. He wrapped his arm around Kent's shoulders, much to the other knight's annoyance. "I wouldn't mind escorting two lovely ladies back to Caelin. And hey, I bet there's more women to meet along the way!"

"Sain, you are impossible."

"So where to next, then?" Nia cut in before Kent could erupt like a volcano.

Lyn was the first to answer. "I'd very much like to visit this temple located in Bulgar's outskirts first. For us Sacaeans, it has been an age-old custom of ours to pray there for safety. It's not far from here, so it shouldn't take long."

Nia clapped her hands for the second time this day. "Then onwards, to the sacred temple that Lyn wants to visit!"

* * *

 **Thus ends chapter two of Flutter. I really enjoyed writing this one. There's just something about Nia's character that's so fun to write.  
**

 **Much thanks to those who reviewed the first chapter! Y'all are awesome for motivating me to continue (because low self-esteem sucks like a lollipop). I hope you guys didn't mind the liberties I've made for this chapter; I thought a bit of some fresh air would do us all nicely.**


	3. Silver Tongue

**Three**

Silver Tongue  


To describe the temple that the group of four had traveled to, _ancient_ might be a generous way of putting it. True, it stood before them tall and proud in its beige, stony glory and welcomed the local Sacaeans—and the occasional adventurer—to its halls, but Nia found the cracks in the moss-covered walls particularly… distressing. _Struggling to keep itself together_ seemed much more like it.

But it could just, perhaps, be deceptively fragile on the outside and she was underestimating its sturdiness. After all, Lyn didn't seem to be particularly worried as she regarded the temple; her strides were purposeful as always, never faltering, and her eyes barely blinked when she took into account the temple's state of relative disrepair. And thankfully, the Sacaean didn't notice the surprise that flashed on Nia's face for a split-second.

 _I'm not far from assuming that spirits may as well be keeping the whole thing together, however._ Nia thought, making sure that there was still a spring in her step. _Or at least, not far from assuming that the locals here would think that_. That frame of thinking might make the most sense; she could feel the air around her thrumming with energy. Spiritual energy, the kind that mages used for their magic. The closer she got to the temple, the more ticklish the energy felt on her skin.

Still, the manakete thought the temple back in Arcadia looked far better in condition as compared to the one out here. But, then again, _that_ one had both humans and dragons there to maintain its pristine state. She would know intimately; she'd had the misfortune of helping scrub clean the walls once or twice. Her poor, poor arms had felt like jelly for days.

"Speaking of jelly, my sweet tooth is acting up…"

"What did you say, Nia?" Lyn asked from beside her, making the manakete blink repeatedly.

First came surprise in the form of her hand smacking her mouth. Understanding followed, which involved realizing the fact that she'd just expressed her thoughts out loud. And then—

"Oh, I was just musing to myself." Nia finally said, giggling awkwardly and later lowering her hand. "Sorry, did I bother anyone? Or better yet, did I accidentally reveal any plans of ruling the world by bribing each nation's leader with sweets or some such?"

Lyn shook her head, smiling. She patted Nia reassuringly on the shoulder while trying not to laugh at the mental image Nia may have produced. "No, but when you do, I'll know to pretend that you hadn't said anything."

"Good, very good. That means my incriminating secrets are safe for another day. Yes!" Nia cheered before grinning at Lyn. "Absolutely nasty, they are. They will be my undoing should they see the light of day."

She wasn't quite sure why those were the words she chose to let loose from her lips. But if she gave it some thinking, there _was_ something fun about making statements with hidden meanings. Ones that Lyn, Kent, or Sain would never decipher because, as far as the three were concerned, she was just a tactician-in-training tagging along with them. A tactician-in-training who may as well personify sunshine, that is.

"If that is the case, you may have to be on your guard, Nia." Lyn replied with the same light tone that Nia had employed. "I may or may not strive to find out what those secrets are in the future."

Lyn was making a jest, Nia reminded herself as her heart gave a loud thud despite her thoughts. _Lyn was just making a jest. Now shush, dear Nia, and shoot back a reply._

"Oh, you're free to try, Lyn of the Lorca. You are free to try." Nia decided to say with a faint smirk. And then she changed the subject. Just like that. She was certain that she wasn't going to be winning any contests on subtlety anytime soon. "Sooo, a-ny-way, this is our destination, huh? It looks bigger up close."

Lyn regarded the temple with fondness, stopping right at the entrance. She let her hand graze over the stone wall. "Indeed. It makes me remember the times when Mother and Father would take me here after an occasional visit to Bulgar. We'd pray at the shrine here before we returned home, and sometimes, Father would tell me stories about the blade in the altar here, the Mani Katti."

"I truly am sorry to hear what happened to your family and your tribe, Lady Lyndis," Kent then said, meaning every word. "Rest assured, we'll reunite you with your grandfather as soon as possible."

Nia turned to discover the knight having completely dismounted his horse already, Sain doing the same soon after. The latter, however, couldn't seem to stop his eyes from roaming over the collection of houses past the low wall to the east.

The manakete needn't ask what Sain was looking for. Instead, she shrugged and minded him no more. Kent, on the other hand, wasn't feeling too appreciative of Sain's antics, sternly staring at the man until he caught his eye. It took at least five seconds before Sain grinned at him and complied with his silent request of stopping his skirt-chasing. For now.

 _Thankfully, Sain's dependable in a battle_ , Nia thought just then, feeling another urge to chuckle. _Quite a colorful character, if I were to be asked._

To be fair, though, the women that caught Sain's eye were indeed eye-catching. Like Lyn, who was rather striking in her own way.

And speaking of the ponytailed, green-haired plainswoman, Lyn had regarded the spectacle before her with amusement. Despite her eyes shining with tears she successfully held back, her lips were quirked into a smile. Nia wasn't surprised; Lyn _would_ , of course, try her best to look brave. She still had her pride as a Sacaean to uphold, and as the last, existing member of the Lorca tribe, she had to stand strong.

That impression didn't stop Nia from wanting to embrace the other girl, though, no matter how hard she pushed down the urge to do so.

"Thank you, Kent." She finally said before turning to the shrine's direction. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be heading on in to pray. Unless any of you would want to accompany me? And yes, Sain, you too."

Nia knew that Lyn was referring to Sain's advances back in Bulgar, which, come to think of it, might have made the manakete wonder if Lyn's opinion on Caelin changed after finding out that her grandfather lived there. A grandfather who also happened to be the marquess, to wit. She might have _also_ felt thankful that Sain managed to prove himself in battle instead of ending up dismissed as hopelessly hopeless. He did give the Sacaean a bad impression of the Caelin knights when he shamelessly flirted with her, after all.

Or at least, that was what _Lyn_ called it. Shameless flirting.

Then again, the threat of being chopped into gory pieces by a nice, large axe was enough of a motivator to have two people at odds teaming up and forgetting their differences. It worked out well in the end with both Sacaean and knight in better terms, anyway, so there was little for Nia to be concerned about.

"I think I'll stay outside and wait. Besides, someone has to attend to the horses. Your man-at-arms Sain is ready for the task." Sain grinned.

Lyn's eyebrows rose a teeny, tiny fraction before accepting his answer and redirected her gaze to the manakete.

"And you, Nia?"

 _Sure_ , she meant to say. But instead—

"I would so love to see the Manni Katti for myself, but I think I'll go with Sain." Nia said. If she hadn't felt all the alarm bells in her mind go off, she would certainly kick herself for passing the chance to look at the sword by the altar. As it was, she had to stop herself from widening her eyes as she felt that familiar, awful tug at her senses.

Oh, how this day refused to end without plenty of action. Nia ensured that her posture or body movement indicated that nothing was amiss. Even though there _was,_ because she sensed someone outside having plans of visiting the temple and doing something… something bad. Oh, yes, definitely bad.

At least there was small comfort in the fact that Lyn had nothing to do with it, this time. Still, one must exercise caution.

"But, hey, maybe Kent would want to accompany you, Lyn?" Nia then suggested before anyone could say a word. She made sure her smile was in check, and she clasped her hands behind her. _And one more lie adds to the pile_. "We can't be sure if Lungdren's men have already given up for the day. Let's call it a… yes, a precaution."

"You make it sound like something _will_ go wrong. But alright, Nia. I trust your judgment." Lyn said kindly. "Kent, what do you think?"

"I would agree that it's safer this way. So of course, Lady Lyndis, I'll be right behind you." The man in question nodded. But before he could follow Lyn, who had then gone on ahead, he turned to Sain with a half-glare. "And Sain, I hope no woman distracts you from _properly_ tethering the horses this time."

Sain raised his hands. "Sheesh, Kent, that was last year. You really need to work on letting things go, you know. Oh, how your lack of faith wounds me."

" _Sain_."

"Yes, yes, I got you. I'll look away from the beautiful flowers long enough to make sure no horse ended up galloping into the sunset. You have my word, Kent."

Nia suppressed a chuckle. Kent suppressed a deep, resigned sigh.

Deciding that he wasn't in the mood to deal with some more of Sain's antics, he left it at that before turning away to stand watch over Lyn from a respectable distance.

"So," Sain started as he and Nia were finally out of earshot. The manakete looked up at him with her head slightly tilted in curiosity. "On a scale of one to ten, how serious do you think Kent is?"

"Eleven." Nia replied without missing a beat.

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

She was right; danger _was_ afoot.

And it came in the form of a man with a large broadsword strapped on his back. He looked inconspicuous enough, she supposed; he and his four flunkies could be easily mistaken for common travelers with their worn-out clothes and dirt-covered boots. _Armed_ travelers, in this case, that wished to visit the shrine for the same purpose as Lyn.

But Nia knew otherwise; their intention was not to pray for a safe journey. It could be easily seen from the way the leader of the group gazed at the direction of the altar with much intensity. The smirk she could make out from his face was enough to rub her the wrong way, too. Arrogant... yes, that was the best way to put it.

"Are the horses all tethered nice and proper, Sain?" Nia momentarily tore her gaze away from the temple and turned to the knight. She and Sain were atop a small hill, quite a distance away from the temple's entrance. While Sain tied the horses' reigns around two separate trees, Nia had been keeping a wary eye out for the source of her carefully concealed apprehension.

"Yes, they are." Sain answered, turning to her with a smile… that might have flickered when he saw the look on her face. "Why, Nia, do I detect a trace of worry on your delicate features?"

Faintly alarmed that her mask was slipping off, Nia immediately grinned and let out a half-forced chuckle. "Don't be silly, Sain! Kent and Lyn are amazing fighters. If trouble comes to them, they'll hack and slash their way out. It's just… I noticed something, that's all."

"You can tell me anything. What's wrong, then?"

"Look over there, by the temple's entrance. See that man with the large sword?" Nia pointed to the group of men with her index finger. "And see the four others that accompany him? They're clearly trouble, Sain. No one would look at a temple _that_ way if they didn't want something from it." And then her eyes widened slightly as she watched the man with the broadsword gesture to one of the brigands and enter the temple with him in tow. "And hey! In he goes, leaving behind three men and… oh dear, they just pulled their weapons out and are sure to warn off any newcomer from this point onward. They mean business."

"Drat, that is definitely not good," Sain frowned slightly as he realized Nia was right. "If those three come running in when a fight breaks out, Lyndis and Kent will be in deep trouble."

"Exactly. We need to _keep_ them from joining in." Nia responded, squinting her eyes at the three brigands as she started figuring out how she and Sain were going to distract them. "Except that you can't engage all three of them at the same time. I would love to help, but I'm useless in actual combat."

It was painfully obvious that Sain was never going to get out of a three-versus-one fight alive. He had his skills and the nerve to make the attempt and prove her wrong, but his margin of error would be so tremendously small that he'd sooner get his head chopped off than he would end up plunging his sword through their hearts. And she, on the other hand, would have to be extremely lucky to keep a sword lifted for more than five seconds.

All she had on her was her wits, her silver tongue, and—

Well, now there's an idea.

"Sain," Nia looked up at the aforementioned knight, who _also_ seemed to be figuring out the best course of action. His jovial expression was nowhere to be seen. "Tell me plainly: do I look like a civilian to you?"

"Huh?" Understandably, Sain was initially puzzled by the question that came out of the blue. But it wasn't long before he recovered, and he answered, "Well, if you really want to know, I'd say that yes, you do. Don't get me wrong; you're still quite a lovely person, but no one would be on their guard when you're close by. You're more liable to be attacked."

"Great! That is the kind of answer I'm hoping to hear." And hers was the kind of answer Sain obviously wasn't _expecting_ to hear. The manakete grinned and smacked her fist downwards on an open palm.

Nobody said that everything had to end in bloodshed. Besides, in her current situation, _that_ was the sort of thing she wanted to avoid happening to Sain—and to her.

Nia turned to make her way downhill. But before she could, a hand gripped her arm.

"Hey, wait," Nia darted a questioning glance at the knight. "Where do you think you're going? I'm one for charging heroically into battle, but I doubt Kent and Lyndis would be happy if I let _you_ walk into danger just like that. Ooh, Kent might have a heart attack if he hears me saying this, but… let's think this through."

Nia gently pried Sain's hand from her arm and smiled at him reassuringly. "Don't you worry, I know what I'm doing. We'll be fine if this works out! Just stay out of sight, but somewhere close enough at the same time. I'll call for you if my plan fails."

"Hold on a second. _If_? Hey, Nia, wait!"

The manakete had marched off fearlessly towards the three men before Sain could completely stop her.

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

Lyn, on the other hand, was still unaware of the trouble that was going to erupt soon.

Here she knelt by the altar, her eyes shut as she silently prayed to the spirits for a safe journey. At the moment, she felt calm. Very calm.

She'd always felt this way when she was communing with the spirits. But then, she supposed it also had something to do with the tranquil atmosphere of the temple. She'd entered several minutes ago to find the temple quiet; the only person to grace its halls was the priest whose gentle smile made her feel at ease. The sight of the Mani Katti on the altar had served to make her all the more peaceful, too.

But, perhaps, her current state also had something to do with the scented candles nearby, too. It reminded her of better days.

Unfortunately, Lyn didn't get to stay this way for long.

Before the Sacaean could completely finish her prayer, she was roughly shoved aside by a strong pair of hands. She'd been caught off-guard so much that she failed to catch herself as she fell; her cheek stung as she felt it skid across the rough floor.

Confusion was the first thing she felt as her mind finally caught on to the present. Anger had come soon after, boiling hot and ready to scald the person who had caused it to appear.

Who, indeed; Lyn opened her eyes to see a man standing in her place, his face lacking any remorse for what he had just done seconds ago. In fact, he barely acknowledged her. Past him was the temple's priest, blocked by another man whom was most likely the man's accomplice, and her ire increased tenfold as she realized what the man with the broadsword was reaching for in the altar. She stood up at once, ignoring the pain on her face.

The Mani Katti, Sacae's sacred blade. _He_ was planning on taking it as his own. _She_ wasn't about to allow that to happen.

"You dare take the Mani Katti from its place of rest?" The Sacaean spat as she stood up to her full height. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword, ready to pull the weapon out the moment he made the first move. She knew he would. And from her peripheral, when she noticed Kent moving towards her, she stopped the knight in his tracks with a sharp stare that clearly translated to, _I'll handle this_.

Kent complied at once and gave a curt nod.

Finally, the man by the altar turned towards her with a glare that could have made a meeker person shrink in fear. "As a matter of fact, yes, _I dare._ What good is a powerful sword if it's never going to be used for combat?"

"You cannot!" The priest cried out. "The Mani Katti is a sacred blade, under divine protection. To use it for the purpose of _bloodshed_ is sacrilegious!"

The man scoffed and barely gave him a glance. "I don't care a whit for the gods, old man. I want this sword, and this sword I shall have."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Lyn's voice was deadly quiet as those words escaped from her lips. She approached the man until she was barely a foot away from him. Her piercing green eyes locked into his dark ones. "I will not allow you to leave this place with that sword."

The man stared back at Lyn wordlessly. Silence ensued, but it felt more like the calm before a storm.

"My name is Glass, girl. The best swordsman in all of Sacae," the man, Glass, finally said. And in a louder voice, he declared, "And if I have to cut you down where you stand, then so be it!"

Lyn had anticipated the attack and quickly leapt backwards. She expected to hear the air whoosh as she thought of his blade slicing downwards from where she'd originally stood, but instead—

No matter how much strength he poured on his muscled arms, Glass was unable to pull the Mani Katti from its scabbard.

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

"Greetings, gentlemen!" Nia flashed the men standing guard a smile that easily rivaled the sun's brightness. "Might I gain entry to the temple?"

The three brigands exchanged incredulous glances at each other before returning their attention to the seemingly clueless, naïve manakete. They were amused when she remained standing before them without so much as flinching from the not-so-subtle way they flashed their weapons at her, but threatened they were not. Nia noted that their hold on their axes were as loose as ever, the men visibly bored of standing around while their leader did all the action.

Perfect.

"You'll want to turn around and come back later, _little girl_." One of them finally said in a condescending tone. "I'd say it's for your own good."

The rest snickered.

 _I swear, I've heard this one too many times_ , Nia thought. While the constant belittling aided her disguise tenfold and significantly reduced suspicion, she wasn't too fond of the fact that her own pride as a pure-blooded dragon was always going to take a hit no matter what. Of course, she was painfully aware of the fact that it was a reasonable exchange for being able to see the world beyond her village, but if she had one Gold for every buffoon who dismissed her as a child who didn't know any better…

She'd be richer than the king of Bern.

(Kings _were_ always rich, weren't they?)

But Nia took the insult in stride, shrugging it off like a duck in the rain. "Oh, alright. But what _are_ you men doing here, anyway?"

Not that she was _bursting_ with pride, exactly. Dragons couldn't exactly fit inside houses, and she thought _that_ was always no fun. Her feathers—why couldn't she have _scales_ instead?—had the tendency to make her nose itch, and while she liked the color of her wings when she spread them out behind her, she thought there was nothing particularly majestic about them. Humans apparently thought otherwise; she would never understand their fascination.

"Waiting for our boss to finish whatever it is he's doing inside the temple," one brigand replied, yawning without covering his mouth. Nia tried not to grimace; the man's breath smelled absolutely horrid. Like rotten eggs. "We ain't joking about what we might do to you. If you ask me, you're too young to die. So why don't you stop pushing your luck and get out of here? I ain't warning you again."

 _Oh, please,_ Nia thought then. _I'm nearly half a thousand times your age._

"Aww. My apologies, sirs. I'm just horribly, horribly curious because I don't usually see a lot of people around this place..." Nia swore that if she sounded any more naïve, she was going to wonder if she was back to being as mature as a hundred-year-old dragon. She was also impressed how that lie smoothly slipped from her mouth. But this was part of the plan; she needed them to remain thinking she wasn't a threat. "Might I ask one, final question before I go?"

The men looked at each other once again and shrugged at the same time.

"If that will make you go away, then go on. Ask."

"How much is your boss paying you to stand there threateningly just to shoo off everyone who would quake in fear from the sight of those weapons?" Honestly, it was a question she was wondering for herself. The man with the broadsword hardly looked like someone who could afford to pay four men decently enough to keep them loyal. Unless he merely asserted his superiority over them or made fake promises…

But on the other hand, she ought not to care. What mattered at the moment was acting innocent and curious to the best of her ability. To play the game of deceit with such skill that her victims wouldn't realize that they've been toyed with. She wasn't too fond of this method, but it got her results… as far as she knew.

"Actually…" One began.

"Come to think of it…" Another pondered.

The third brigand shrugged dumbly, not knowing the answer.

 _Bingo_ , Nia sang mentally, suppressing the urge to smirk.

"Oh, dear," Nia said then, her voice dripping with false surprise. "Do you mean to tell me, that on the moment when a skilled combatant finally comes to poke his head into your business, you men will go into a fight and _not_ get properly paid for it? A fight that may lead to your _deaths_ , might I add?"

None of the men were able to successfully answer her. Uncertainty filled their previously smug expressions.

The manakete shook her head sorrowfully. "That is so sad. Oh, and on a day when a few Caelin knights are around, too…"

"…What?!"

"Yep! That's right," Nia bobbed her head up and down. This was the fun part about toying with their minds: in hers, a few meant two. But in theirs, it probably meant far more than that. "I can't believe you men had no idea. I heard they're really, _really_ skilled, you see. Haven't you heard about the assassins they've fought off sometime earlier? I think their carcasses were left to rot where they fell. And to think! You might end up as one of them if you remained a menace to the good, common folk. All for a few shiny coins, no less."

Hook, line, and sinker.

It wasn't difficult to know what the men were thinking: risking their life right now without decent pay wasn't worth it. Not when able warriors were around to stop them. Plus, their boss was stingy and probably thought of ditching them the moment he got what he wanted.

Or, well, it was that, or they were just too frightfully dumb and too damn easy to sway.

"Damn. And to think, the boss' purpose here is to steal a sword that he ain't going to sell to a merchant, anyway."

"Right you are. He hasn't even paid us upfront! Says he'll do it after this job, and I bet _that's_ a damned lie."

The sounds of shouting and metal clanging against metal erupted from within the temple. Nia could have sworn she heard someone cry in pain before falling permanently silent. It was clear that her brigand friends knew _exactly_ what was happening inside.

"Well, it appears the party has started in there, gentlemen. So what's it going to be: run in there to fight and die? Or run _away_ and find better opportunities to make money elsewhere without some cocky, arrogant _bastard_ to boss you around?" Nia asked cheerfully. It was almost scary how unaffected she was by the chaos inside.

 _And I believe I shall call this moment a stroke of luck because no one questioned why I wasn't cowering in fear._

It didn't take them long enough to come to a decision.

"Forget Glass. This ain't worth the coin he 'promised' us once we're done here." One brigand said before hastily leaving the scene. The others followed soon after, and Nia was left triumphantly standing there with her hands on her hips.

Sain, who had been hiding behind the low wall nearby, had heard every word and finally approached the girl when the men were completely gone from sight.

Awed did not begin to describe the look on the knight's face as he looked at the retreating backs of the brigands and at the toothily grinning girl before him. Impressed didn't seem to cover it, either. And for that matter, love-struck probably didn't cut it, either. Plain and simple, it was difficult to describe the expression on the man's face right now.

"Nia, that was amazing!"

The manakete in question made a curtsy graceful enough to make her resemble a performer in a play.

"Now let's go see what's happening inside, shall we?"

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

Both knight and manakete found the Sacaean to be in the thick of battle, continually exchanging blows with a man whom Nia presumed was Glass. Kent, on the other hand, had obviously dealt with the accomplice Glass had brought with him; the brigand's corpse lay cooling by one of the temple's columns.

It was rather nice to know that the two handled themselves splendidly despite scratches on them. Even nicer that they had just proved to her that they were capable of thinking for themselves while she was absent. She wasn't completely sure what to think if everyone had to fully depend on her decisions for the outcome of any future battles. Just thinking about it was stressing her poor self.

"Gods damn it," Glass finally roared in outrage as he bumped against the wall, evading Lyn's strike at the last second. Glass whirled towards the temple entrance. "Oi, you lot standing stupidly outside! Get in here and help me finish this wench!"

At this, Nia chuckled. A smug expression was on Sain's face as the knight stuck close to the girl. And Kent, he glanced questioningly at his friend, obviously wondering what there was to be so cheerful about.

"They're not coming," the manakete answered to Glass, grinning. "Perhaps you'll take today as a lesson to treat your accomplices better, hm? It won't do to have them abandoning you in the midst of a battle!"

Just like that, Glass realized the futility of his attempts on stealing the Mani Katti.

Basically, he blanched. There was no other way of putting it, no prose suitable enough to describe the way the tables had turned with just the appearance of a "little" girl and another knight. It was an expression Nia would want to put to parchment to immortalize the moment.

Lyn, on the other hand, was rather surprised as well. But she dared not relax her stance or loosen her grip on her sword, and in a firm voice, she merely said, "It seems you are outnumbered then, Glass. Your last ally lies dead, and if you keep this up, you will end up like him, too."

Glass' jaw clenched when he finally recovered from his shock, scowling as he looked back at the Sacaean. His scowl deepened as his eyes fell onto the smaller form of Nia, who beamed at him as if she'd been greeted so kindly; and onto the knights, who stood ready to finish him off if he made any more sudden movements.

"Fine." Glass finally spat, grudgingly returning his sword to its sheath. " _Fine_. I'm not stupid like those bandits in the mountains—I know when my luck's run out. Keep the blasted sword; it's of even less use if it won't even come out of the damned scabbard."

And he left.

Well, more like, he _fled_ like he'd expected to be struck from behind if he kept a slow, even pace.

"Thank goodness no further bloodshed occurred," the priest sighed in relief as he stepped out of the room he'd hid himself in.

"If he hadn't been so eager to meet my blade, he might have suffered a better fate than death," Kent's tone was as neutral as always. For a moment, Nia almost thought he was explaining himself. "I'm more surprised that you allowed that man to live, Lady Lyndis."

"It wouldn't do well to have blood spilled within this temple's halls, Kent. I respect this place and the priest too much for that." Lyn explained and sheathed her own sword. "I knew the priest would understand if I had to kill to defend myself, but seeing as things hadn't taken a fatal turn… it isn't as if Glass managed to take the sword from the altar, anyway. Come to think of it, why is that?"

Clearly, the question was directed to the priest, who chuckled good-naturedly at the Sacaean's curiosity.

"I bet it has something to do with the spirits." Nia piped up. She thought that was the case; she felt the energies in the air concentrated around the Mani Katti.

"Yes, child, as a matter of fact, it does." The priest answered and chuckled good-naturedly. The smile on his face widened, as if he was the only person in the room who knew a particular joke. "That, and I'd cast a spell over the blade earlier so that no one can simply draw it."

"I… see." Lyn seemed to have forgotten what she'd meant to say after hearing that revelation. To Nia, she seemed to be leaning more into relief than surprise.

"I have you to thank for stopping that man, however," the priest then told Lyn. "As a matter of fact… Hm, have you managed to finish your prayers earlier?"

The Sacaean shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I was nearly done when Glass shoved me aside."

"Oh… that explains the reddish tint on your cheek." Nia pointed out. Lyn flashed the manakete a reassuring smile to quell her worries.

Upon hearing Lyn's answer, the priest stepped slowly towards the altar. Nia heard him mutter a few incantations before reaching out to the sheathed sword and holding it before Lyn. He nodded at her.

"Then here. This is the least I could do in gratitude. You may touch the blade's pattern and finish your prayers for a safe journey."

"I… of course. I will do as you say." Lyn said and let her gloved hand hover over the sword. Pushing aside whatever initial hesitation she'd had from seeing the sacred sword before her, she finally let her fingertips graze the surface of the blade.

Only for it to gently glow in a white light, making Nia, Kent, and Sain stare at the blade in wide-eyed surprise. For a moment, the manakete could have sworn she felt the energies in the air weigh her down. It felt so heavy... it was a wonder that no one in the group realized what had just happened. Lucky them. She'd belatedly realized that she'd latched onto Sain for support when the light finally faded.

On the plus side, Sain didn't say anything. In fact, he might have looked happy.

"Well, then, who'd have thought I'd see the day when the Mani Katti finally finds its owner…" The priest murmured with a soft smile as he regarded Lyn's shocked expression. The Sacaean drew her hand away as if she'd touched something particularly hot. There was no mistaking that Lyn might not want to touch the blade again.

"Impossible." Lyn furiously shook her head in disbelief.

"Oh, but child, the impossible is merely the possible waiting to happen," the priest said. "The spirits have chosen you, found you worthy. In fact, I believe I have no choice but to hand the Mani Katti over to you now, heh…"

"Still... _me_? It could have been anyone else. No _._ No way."

"Aww. But, Lyn, it's such a nice sword, too," Nia piped up, her tone as cheery as ever. "Think of it as something like… a lost puppy. And you're the owner, but you just didn't know it until you found it."

"There is one way to prove that you _are_ the owner, Lyn," the priest kindly added. "Pull it from its sheath."

Lyn blinked at him. And at Nia. And at Kent and Sain, after watching their silent offers of encouragement.

"Just do it." Nia said with a bright smile.

"I… alright."

Lyn gently took the sword from the priest's hands. For a moment, she stared at it, seemingly contemplating whether she was _truly_ the blade's owner or the spirits were simply playing tricks on her. But after witnessing Nia eagerly nod at her repeatedly, the Sacaean sighed, gripped the sword's hilt, and pulled.

It came out effortlessly.

* * *

 **Proooobably not the best way to end the chapter, but if I don't stop it somewhere, it's going to go on and on. This seems like a good point to cut it off. Anyway, college keeps me busier, but I still have enough time to write a chapter bit by bit. One thing I can say for sure, though, next chapter will be more or less an interlude. Of sorts. Also, yes, when I say feathers, I mean feathers. Turns out that I didn't read wrong when I read some stuff about the dragons in Elibe's universe.  
**

 **Thanks, as usual, for the feedback! Don't hesitate to point out anything that might be wrong; I'm in no way perfect, after all. Y'all rock. :D**


	4. Revealed (?)

**Chapter Four**

Revealed (?)

Nia would very much like to say that the fruits of her labor resulted to something that made her chest feel warm on the inside.

After all, there weren't many things that could be created with so much love and so much care, that every touch, every piece put together felt like magic. There weren't many things that could make one burst into song that was filled with so much emotion, it tugged at the soul. Things that could put a tear to one's eye—if they were of the sentimental sort, that is.

It was wonderful; it was awesome. Breathtaking. _Cool_.

"That is… an interesting shelter you've made for yourself tonight, Nia." Lyn commented with a smile so strained it was a miracle it wasn't a puzzled frown.

…Or maybe it was just Nia who thought of her creation that way while everyone else (sensibly) didn't carry the same impression.

"This area has a lot of _interesting_ -looking leaves, now that I thought about it," Nia tapped her chin thoughtfully as she regarded her small, makeshift tent built of fallen tree branches and, indeed, leaves of varying shapes and sizes.

Placing the last branch on the pile of firewood, Kent stood up from where he'd been squatting, turning around to regard the thing that caught Lyn's attention. He stared at it for one second, two seconds, three seconds…

"Do you even fit in there, milady?" Kent finally asked the manakete in a tone that heavily hinted incredulity. He definitely sported the same expression that Lyn had. Well, almost the same; he didn't know whether to be amused or to be… horrified. Freaked out? Slack-jawed? Either seemed to fit the description.

Kent was _polite_ , however. Whichever he truly felt, he wouldn't mention it in order not to offend.

On the other hand, Sain, who had just finished his part in clearing tonight's campsite of unwanted rubble, spared Nia's little project a glance. He grinned and nodded appreciatively, clearly taking the manakete's burst of creativity well. "I should say that whether she could sleep in it or not, it's quite the creation! Lovely Nia, you are certainly full of surprises."

Flatterer. But she truly appreciated his reaction—there was nothing malicious about it—and beamed at him in return. She also appreciated Lyn's and Kent's response, but mostly because they were looking particularly amusing right now. On the positive side, she sensed no intentions from them that would endanger her cute little project—which was the result from a mix of boredom (as they'd all settled in this camp site for the night) and still having more than enough energy to spare.

Really. She _did_ feel like she could still do a lot more before she let what remained of this day slip away from her fingers. But then… Lyn, Kent, and Sain, they didn't outright show it, but Nia knew that the three were tired from all the excitement that had happened today. There was a certain sluggishness to their movements when they'd set up camp a while ago. A hint of dullness in their eyes.

She supposed that Kent and Sain had yet to properly rest from their journey to Bulgar. And Lyn _had_ fought her way out of conflicts today, twice. They'd all be understandably eager to end the day.

And to think! The most physically-intensive activity that the manakete had done today was to walk a large distance and climb up a tree to hide herself from the chaos of battle down below. She didn't swing a sword, parried or dodged blows, or constantly danced about the battlefield with deadly grace. She'd done nothing to warrant the level of tiredness her human peers possessed.

 _Oh, that thought is definitely making my stomach flip uncomfortably,_ Nia couldn't help but think. That glaring fact made her wonder if she _deserved_ to remain in the presence of these warriors. Was this how a real tactician felt like? To _want_ to help, to be active, but couldn't? If she had her divinestone, the amount of havoc she could wreak on the enemies of her friends was unimaginable…

But no. _No_. The world wasn't ready to acknowledge the existence of dragons. That was just asking for the return of the Scouring.

But she certainly couldn't acknowledge that… that feeling of _uselessness_ right now. She had no choice but to shove that black, ugly, writhing thing deep down where she couldn't reach it.

Sunshine and rainbows, she firmly told herself. Not thunder and lightning.

"It _is_ rather small, isn't it? But it did the job of passing time until the sun finally set, so I'd say it was time well-spent." She flashed everyone a toothy grin."And I did end up accidentally gathering too much firewood. I… hadn't been paying attention. But I had to make use of the extras in _some_ way."

Lyn's eyes lit up in amusement as her gloved hand flew to cover her mouth, a soft _pfft_ escaping her lips.

Clearly, the memory of earlier was never going to leave the Sacaean anytime soon.

Neither would it leave Nia, for that matter. When the manakete had proudly returned from the nearby forest with her arms full of dry branches, Lyn had almost forgotten what she had been doing, almost ignored the rabbit meat she'd been preparing for dinner. Lyn's facial expression had alternated between surprise and hilarity. In fact…

"Nia," Lyn had said, holding in her laughter and coming closer and closer to failing. Nia could still remember, clear as crystal, the way the corner of the Sacaean's lips kept twitching. "You could have built a shelter with that amount of wood!"

…Which had been what the manakete ended up doing several minutes later, anyway, but still.

Honestly, it wasn't as if she intended to have been so absorbed in branch-collecting, that by the time she'd gathered more than enough, she could barely move her wood-filled arms. Her reflections about the events today just distracted her, is all. She had no urge to dump the extra branches on the ground, either. What if some random adventurer tripped over them?

"I didn't really mean for you to make an actual shelter, though," Lyn finally told her, sending the manakete back to the present. "I was making a jest."

"Well, then, _my peerless warrior_ , you'll have to be careful with your words next time. Words are far more powerful than you think," Nia returned with a waggle of her index finger, eyes bright. In retrospect, this whole thing was rather silly.

 _Anything to keep the group's spirits high, really. It's the least I can do._

Kent's lips quirked into a small, amused smile before he shook his head, turning around to regard the group's campsite. Nia broke eye-contact with Lyn and mirrored Kent's actions.

Not bad at all. There didn't seem to be any more rubble that would bother an unfortunate camper's back. Though the grass, short as it were, would make _that_ difficult to tell. Still, Nia knew how awful having an aching back was, so any effort spent on cleaning tonight's place of rest was appreciated. To suffer a sleepless night because some bloody rock underneath her kept her awake… she'd sooner wish that on her enemies.

But her mind was starting to wander now, and Nia immediately shook off the thought from her head, resuming her own inspection.

Moving on: smack dab in the middle of their campsite was the pile of branches waiting to be lit up with flint stones (thank you, Kent), surrounded by bedrolls; there were no tents in sight, too bulky to bring on a journey without a supply convoy of sorts. And lastly, on the nearby trees, the horses of Kent and Sain were tethered securely. Nia decided that she would later give both of them the apples that Lyn had bought earlier.

 _After all,_ she thought with a small smile. _Those poor steeds had to carry two armored men for hours._

"Everything seems to be in order. Shall we go on and make a fire? It's getting dark." Kent informed them.

The sky _was_ a pretty shade of purple by now, now that the manakete had noticed. Soon enough, there would be many bright stars to stare at, admire, and finger-trace patterns with. And, more importantly, the air would be colder; Nia hated how _humid_ daytime felt here, and how sticky with sweat it made her as a result. There was just something not right about that. She wasn't even an ice dragon, yet she felt like she preferred the chill of Ilia.

"I should say so! And then we can all sit around the fire and share tales. That should be wonderful, don't you think?" Sain cheerily said. Kent didn't seem to share the same sentiment, flashing him his trademark stern stare.

"If this becomes another excuse to narrate one of your stories about a woman you met on the road, Sain—"

"Hey now, you're getting ahead of things," Sain raised his hands. A sheepish grin spread across his lips as he couldn't help but add, "Besides, I only told you about that because I've never seen a woman with hair _that_ red! And those smoldering eyes… She has such a nice laugh, too. It made me think of chimes."

"Right. And I believe I would be _seeing_ red if you shared that story one more time." Kent shot back. His neutral tone more or less indicated that he wasn't going to end up doing that—but the message was there, anyway, loud and clear. "So don't. _Especially_ not in the presence of Nia and Lady Lyndis."

Nia and Lyn exchanged raised eyebrows and shrugged.

"I swear, you are truly no fun at times…" Sain sighed. Dramatically, if that was possible. If he put his hand on his chest, perhaps, made the sigh sound deeper…

Nia chuckled.

"Well, someone has to be your foil to balance things out, right? Come on, let's get that fire going!"

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

"So, let's see…" Nia began, squinting at the map she'd spread out on her lap. The light of the crackling fire nearby was bright enough to detail the names of each country all across Elibe, large and bold as each letters were, but under the night sky, she could hardly read the name of the cities within each location. "In order to reach Lycia, our target destination, we'll need to pass through Bern before we head west. It seems to be a straightforward journey, should things go smoothly. How long will this trip take then, Kent?"

"Perhaps a month or more, depending on our pacing," the knight in question readily answered. In his hand was a piece of cooked meat, as right now was dinner time, and he took a bite out of it and chewed. As he swallowed, he added, "I can't say I've taken note of the exact amount of days Sain and I had spent just to reach Bulgar, but I think I've given enough of an estimation."

"Good enough for me," Nia said, and proceeded to finish her own piece of meat. As she swallowed, she tried not grimace; she'd always preferred fruits over meat.

"A month before I see my grandfather…" Lyn murmured. As she'd finished her meal earlier than the rest, she'd gone on to just… holding and looking at the Mani Katti. It was clear that the Sacaean was still digesting the fact that the most sacred blade in all of Sacae was hers now. She sighed, shook her head and looked up at the three before her. "I swear, these past few days had been a whirlwind of events. How are you holding up, Nia?"

Thankful for a diversion from her thoughts of meat, the manakete rolled up her map and stuffed it back into her backpack. "I should ask you that. I'm merely the girl tactician tagging along for the journey, after all! But so far, I'm fine. You needn't worry so."

"I suppose I shouldn't. I should remember that you had been traveling alone before you met me." Lyn said. "And… I'm as good as can be, considering the circumstances. It's not every day I find out that I still have family, after all that's happened. And to find out that I'm the Mani Katti's rightful owner…" She gently grazed her fingertips over the sword's leather scabbard. "It all feels like a dream, honestly. But if it is one, I'd wish to never wake up."

"Yeah, I think I'd wish the same," Sain said. "After all, if today didn't happen, Kent and I would still be looking for the missing Lady Lyndis. I actually kind of wonder what _could_ have happened if we never found you two."

"No doubt we'd be dead after Lungdren sends out _real_ assassins, pardon the dark thought. Thankfully, I most certainly believe we are all wide awake, and therefore, nope, this is not a dream." Nia grinned. "We all have our clothes on, don't we?"

Quiet chuckles reverberated around the camp. Yes, even Kent was amused.

"You know what? I'd been joking earlier about each of us sharing tales around the campfire, but I don't think it's such a bad idea at all. Tonight is a good night for an icebreaker of sorts, so what say you three? It wouldn't hurt to be more familiar with each other when we'll be traveling together for the days and weeks to come." Sain suggested.

Something frantically tugged at Nia from the back of her mind, something that wanted to stuff her underneath a rock until she was entirely forgotten by everyone. She'd told herself that she was willing to take the risk of traveling with humans, but… she didn't realize how much of a challenge that decision would be. Especially when the moment came that her cover identity could be potentially prodded at with a stick.

She couldn't back down now, though. No, just… no. She kept her cheery expression in place. She also brushed her hand against the spot where her pointed ears were hidden by her hair, just to be sure that it stayed that way.

"Huh. You know, you've been doing that a lot, I've noticed," Sain suddenly pointed out.

Nia's eyes widened a fraction, felt like she was a deer cornered by hunters, and forced her hand down to her lap. She didn't realize that she'd developed a mannerism for it… or, well, didn't realize at once that _that_ was what she kept doing whenever a strong breeze blew against her face as they traveled a fair bit after the Glass encounter. If she'd been doing that for the past few days, too… _oh no_.

"I'm sure it's nothing to be concerned about," Lyn responded at that moment. Nia couldn't tell what the Sacaean was feeling about it. The Sacaean's expression was as pleasant as ever, her body movement absent of any tenseness, though there was a strange glint in the Sacaean's eyes that Nia hoped she just imagined.

Nia tried sensing any intentions from her, but all the manakete discovered was a jumbled mess. Which meant that Lyn wasn't quite sure what to do about that little tidbit.

 _Nia, you've always prided yourself on getting out of a nasty tangle, so… get yourself out of this one, too! Think._

"Most likely, as I hadn't the faintest idea that I've been doing it all this time." That response hadn't exactly what she'd been aiming at, but it was too late to back out of it now. Her chest felt tight all of a sudden, her head light, but she _made_ herself smile awkwardly. "Sorry. It's been so windy lately, and I'm not entirely too fond of my hair being swept up by it. Or, for that matter, I'm not into messing up my hair at all."

The best lies were the ones that was laced with bits and pieces of truth, she told herself.

"With the way your hair is clipped, I would say that you shouldn't have any problems," Sain said.

Nia's stomach wanted to _flip_. She opened her mouth to respond, to say _anything_ —

But then Sain merely smiled and let the subject go. "But I suppose it's just a habit of yours, so it's alright, little Nia. It's nothing to be embarrassed about!"

Whew. _Whew_. He mistook her reaction for mortification. The laugh that came out of her this time was a relieved one. More real. "For a moment, I thought you were going to make an issue out of it. So let's just move on from there, alright?" Oh, yes, the smile on her face was _much_ more genuine after Sain prompted her to continue, with Kent and Lyn regarding her with zero suspicion. "So… um, you mentioned an icebreaker, if I recall correctly. Sharing tales about all sorts of things isn't a bad idea at all, so I'd say let's go for it! In fact, I am perfectly willing to start it off."

"You did promise me a tale from your journeys," Lyn said, finally settling down the Mani Katti on the grass beside her.

"I can't promise that it will be a tale from _my_ travels, Lyn, but it _will_ be a tale all the same."

"I see. That is quite alright, Nia. Let's hear it, then!"

"By all means, milady, do begin." Kent said.

Nia _sort of_ regretted volunteering the moment three pairs of eyes were set intently on her, making her think of backing out and admitting to her false bravado, but she steeled herself and soldiered on.

"Alright! But please, give me a moment to think of a good one."

Thankfully, everyone seemed to be willing to grant her that.

 _So,_ she then thought as she crossed her arms, eyes cast downwards. _What tale shall I share?_ She'd been alive for so long, it had been a miracle that she still retained the memories from the events that occurred all throughout her life. What could she share without raising some questions she couldn't answer? Probably one that she could pretend was a work of fiction, to narrate in a way that it sounded so… unbelievable.

 _Well, there is this one tale that we Arcadians had learned something from, too._

There was a message with that particular story, one that she'd taken to heart ever since because _she_ also happened to be involved in it. It wasn't the happiest of tales, but sometimes, she supposed she could use the reminder of what could happen when one had too much of something.

Nia looked up to face everyone. "I got it. Ready to listen? I think there's something important we can get out of this."

And she began the story from centuries past which still tugged awfully at her to this present day.

* * *

This is a story that has been told to me, once upon a time. I am not certain whether there is a certain truth to it—as I'd been a child then—but it has been a tale that stuck with me ever since.

Long, long ago, there existed this village, located in a land so far away from civilization, one could almost think it didn't exist. And for good reason: it was a village that sheltered both humans and dragons alike. A taboo in normal society, but a solid proof that man and dragon were not always meant to be constantly at war. But in a world that believes all dragons to be gone, its existence would not be taken well.

In short, that village had never meant to be discovered.

But it had been. On one fateful day, two men—outsiders, equal in knowledge and in possession of great magical power—emerged into the village. To say the least, they were surprised of the sights before them, brought into awe at the sight of dragons and humans living together in harmony. They had once believed that all dragons were gone from this world.

There must have been something in them that the village leader had liked, for it was soon after that the two men were invited to stay there. As the two friends always thirsted for greater knowledge, and realized that they had an opportunity to learn everything they could from the dragons, they easily accepted the offer. Eagerly, even. And in exchange for the village leader's kind offer, the two helped conceal the village through a mighty spell that staved off any other outsiders.

All was well. Many years had passed ever since, but it soon turned out that things wouldn't remain the same forever.

The two men had eventually drifted apart, each having taken a path separate from the other. Each had adopted different ideologies. One wasn't averse to the quest for power but knew to be responsible about it, and the other… he had fallen into darkness, succumbed to his lust for power—and he was willing to do whatever it takes to attain it. He had ended up doing many dark deeds that were, at first, a secret. But because secrets never lasted forever, he had been soon found out—and thus gained the outrage of the village's inhabitants.

Oh, they had tried talking him into giving up his bad ways, tried convincing him that the path he had taken would only lead to despair. But it was clear that he had grown mad with power. There was no choice but to stop him by force. The other man was saddened by this fact, but he was not about to sit back and watch his friend ruin himself and everything around him. Many lives had already been claimed by his friend's experiments.

Thus, a battle of an epic scale between the two best friends erupted. The man would have lost against his friend had the dragons not helped him, and it was thanks to their assistance that the madman was eventually slain. It broke the surviving man's heart into two, to find that things had to end this way. But he would move on. He had no choice but to move on.

No one would ever forget that dreadful day. A lesson from that incident would be remembered by both dragon and human: the quest for knowledge (and power, to an extent) is neither good nor evil, but nothing good will ever come from it if it cost of the lives of others.

* * *

Nia's heart was racing by the time she finished, a shiver coursing throughout her body. Was this how it felt like, to tell a story from her past and _hoping_ that no one realized her involvement in it? It was as half-true as it could get to stave off suspicion, but she felt like… like she'd been walking on a tightrope as she narrated the whole thing.

"That was… a story I did not expect." Lyn said.

Nia nodded. For a moment, there were no traces of mirth on her face. "Yes. I know exactly what you mean. But the message is there, yes? I just thought that, well… we need a reminder from time to time that there are some things we shouldn't get into our heads."

"A valuable lesson, to be sure, one that I will most certainly remember," Kent replied. His eyes narrowed slightly as he added, "And, I believe, one that needs to be taught to Lord Lungdren…"

Everyone had grown more serious at the mention of that name.

"Our journey won't be easy if he's still hell-bent on permanently silencing us." Lyn quietly said. "Even if I only wanted to meet my grandfather. I still have no interest in inheriting anything."

"And that's alright, if you ask me," Sain replied, putting on his trademark grin. "But whatever comes our way, we'll plow through it together, right?"

"Yes," Nia agreed with a livelier bobbing of her head. Even though a part of her still wondered if she made the right choice, accompanying Lyn on this long journey… "We will. We'll get Lyn to Caelin as soon as we can, and she can get the best reunion of her life." And, really, a change of mood was definitely in need right now. She clapped her hands once. "So! Anyway, who wants to be next? I didn't mean to make everyone overly serious with that story. Perhaps our two esteemed knights here have a juicy story to tell? Something funny? Entertaining?"

Sain chuckled at that, and for a moment, Kent looked like he wanted to stop Sain from telling a story that would most likely involve a woman or two.

But as it turned out, Sain merely proceeded to recounting a rather hilarious memory when he and the other Caelin knights had a game of cards, with one of them epically losing the game—and his clothes, as some part of a drunken bet made by another. Kent, on the other hand, told a story about how he'd managed to disarm Sain once—during a sparring session—so hard that Sain's weapon went _flying_ several feet away from him. And then earning some rather impressed stares from those who watched them. Lastly, Lyn recalled a tale when she'd nearly gotten lost in Bulgar once, when she'd visited the city with some friends for the first time.

By the time that all of them were feeling sleepy enough to lie down on their bedrolls, their spirits were as high as could be.

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

The morning came much faster than Nia had thought. Or, rather, she might have underestimated her own fatigue that the moment she rested her head on her bedroll, she'd been out of commission for several hours. She couldn't even remember the jumbled mess of images that was her dreams, only having the vague impression that she might have tossed and turned a lot as she slept.

Nia yawned loudly as she sat up, feeling the warmth of the morning sun on her skin. Today was to be another day of walking, walking, and much more walking, and perhaps she was going to take up Lyn's offer of physically improving her human form, after all.

 _And I think I might have woken up too early_ , Nia decided when she noticed how Kent and Sain were still peacefully asleep on their own bedrolls. A glance skyward revealed that the sky was a brilliant orange, and the sun had actually been steadily rising over the horizon.

But wait. Lyn's bedroll was vacant—

"Good morning, Nia," quietly greeted the Sacaean. When the manakete groggily faced the girl, she noticed that Lyn was slightly sweaty.

"Morning, Lyn," Nia mumbled with a still-sleepy smile. Lyn returned it with a brighter one.

And it transformed into a slight frown with widened eyes as the Sacaean completely took in her disheveled appearance.

Nia slowly blinked in confusion. Something about her friend's reaction was rubbing her the wrong way, but her mind had yet to fully awaken, and… "Is something wrong?"

No immediate response. Just a long, hard stare. The manakete felt as if she was suddenly doused with ice-cold water.

 _No._

Her heart gave a loud thump against her chest, her stomach suddenly filled with butterflies. Lyn opened her mouth to say something, _anything_ , but it appeared that she was surprised. _Very_ surprised for words.

 _No no no_.

Nia's hand immediately flew up to touch her messy hair and, with a sinking feeling, realized that her hair clips had come undone. So she really _did_ have a fitful sleep, sometime in the middle of the night. Which meant—

Her ears were poking out of her hair.

* * *

 **Ridiculously busy is the best way to describe myself. I would have been able to upload a new chapter sooner if I hadn't been doing a lot of things. So, I'm hoping that the amount of time people have spent waiting for a new chapter has been worth it. I was practically chanting "Show, don't tell" the whole chapter as I wrote the whole thing out, too, because I'm well aware that _telling_ is something that I used to do a lot. xD**

 **Eh, anyway, what happened is either too soon, but I'm pretty happy at the way the whole chapter turned out. Huge shoutout to TheThousandBeanster and ro78127 for the constant support! You have no idea how much it really means to me. And thank you to everyone else, as well, for the reviews, follows, and faves. They're really doing my self-esteem a favor.**


	5. New Faces

**Chapter Five**

New Faces  


The manakete was upon the Sacaean's side before anything else happened, hair clips already clutched tightly in her hand.

"Shh," she quickly said, her voice a whisper. She put a finger in front of her mouth, eyes wide open and pleading for Lyn to just _please listen_. "If you've any words to say, not here. Please, oh, please. Let's not disturb them, okay?"

And before Lyn could actually make any response, the shorter girl took the Sacaean's hand and gently tugged her towards a spot quite a ways away from their campsite. They stopped beneath a tree that stood right at the top of the grassy slope, giving Nia a good view of Kent and Sain, whom were still asleep in their bedrolls. Good; she'll know if anyone ended was going this way while she and Lyn were talking.

Letting loose a breath, she turned away from their campsite and hesitantly faced Lyn with guilt written across her features. Her friend, on the other hand, had an unreadable expression on hers as she patiently waited for Nia to go on and explain.

"I know I've been terrible to everyone by not being entirely truthful about myself," Nia began. She leaned against the tree and hugged herself. "So before I really begin, I just want to say I'm really, really sorry that this happened. And I think I also need to say this, too: even back then when we first met, Lyn, I've never had any ill intentions towards you. Towards anyone. So all I ask is not to be judged quickly."

There was a small smile that formed on her friend's face as she nodded. It was that of kindness, of understanding, which crushed the manakete all the more because she could never have met a better person than Lyn. And that was saying a lot, especially when she had to take into account how long she'd been alive ever since she was born. She didn't remember anyone having treated her that way, and she honestly felt like she didn't deserve that—she did a bad thing, after all. And bad things, she knew, demanded a punishment. Even moreso when she'd been willing to keep up the charade until they parted ways for good.

Human or dragon, that had always been the way of things. Right?

"I admit, you've truly surprised me few moments ago. But… not even once have you struck me as a bad person, Nia," Lyn said kindly. "You've shown that you have a good heart. I would never have wished to accompany you on your journey if you were otherwise. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."

 _Oh, Lyn_ _…_

"I still feel so awful for having to keep this from you, though." Nia replied softly. And this time, she couldn't even force a smile on her own face, unable to meet Lyn's eyes. "Lyn, I… am not who you think I am. No other human would possess the kind of ears I have—even if they were born with defects. I wish I could tell you everything, but…"

"But?"

"But please, believe me when I say that it's not only _my_ safety that's on the line here, if I let slip of _what_ I really am. No one, even you, is ready to know this secret. Perhaps someday. I say this as seriously as I could. So I can't reveal why this is so. I _can_ say, however, that yes, I'm far from being a human," the manakete finally confessed, looking up at her friend. The hand holding her hair clips clenched more tightly as, unblinking, she looked at Lyn's eyes. "I never was, and never will be. So what you see before you… it's a false appearance. A disguise, if you will. And I really, really can't tell you any more than that. Even if I want to because you've been so nice to me and you deserve the truth."

In all honestly, Nia wouldn't mind if she was going to be cast away after this. It would probably hurt like a stab through the heart, considering that she did come to like Lyn's company—Kent and Sain's, too—but… really, if that was for the best, then so be it. She would understand. She'd lived long enough to know that some things couldn't be helped, that she should just accept it and move on. By now, it should be a routine. It wasn't as if she was going to be facing rejection for the first time.

At the end of the day, her kin's safety in this world had to be put above everything else. She might have run away from home for her own selfish purpose, but she was not about to act irresponsibly and endanger them all—well, not _too_ irresponsibly, at the rate things were going.

"I see. So that means… you're no tactician, then?" Lyn then proceeded to ask. The expression on her face remained the same. No signs of betrayal, no hurt reflected by her eyes, either. Her voice was still soft and gentle, and she was not demanding an answer. She was making an inquiry, neutral as neutral could be.

Nia shook her head sadly. "No, but if we're to consider the direction we're going, I want to be the best kind of tactician I can be. I'm trying to learn as much as I can as we travel and face more obstacles… although, I might want to wish sometimes that we _don_ _'t_ fight anything. So that everyone's safe, you know? I-I mean, I'm pretending to be someone I'm not, but I still want to see this whole thing to the end. I owe you my life, Lyn. There is also that."

She smiled as she said that last part, her eyes shining. She added, "So, really. That's all I have to say. I don't find myself liking this as much as you do… perhaps more… but I have no choice. I have my own family to think of, too."

Before the manakete knew it, she felt her shoulders pulled forward and soon wrapped in a comforting embrace. The scent of grass and flowers immediately assaulted her nostrils as she felt her head pressed against Lyn's body, and all Nia could do was stand there and be hugged while she tried not to cry.

She failed the last part.

"It's okay, Nia. It's plain as day that it took a lot of courage for you to say all of that." Her friend said soothingly, rubbing the manakete's back. "You could have lied, perhaps claim that you were simply born that way and you're just you, but you plunged straight to the truth. I can admire that."

"I'm so sorry, Lyn." The manakete said, emotion dripping from each word. "I was going to keep up the lie as long as I could. I've even considered for a moment about doing what you've mentioned, but… I think you would have found out the truth eventually, anyway. I think I'm glad it turned out this way instead. I don't think I might have endured the mess that shall result from that." Her shoulders drooped as she then added, "So… if you want me to leave, I will. I won't object one bit, I promise."

What she got in response was the last thing she expected. Well, more like she knew beforehand what Lyn was intending to do, but still.

"Nothing of the sort will happen." Lyn said. "I'm not sending you away."

The manakete pulled herself away slightly so she could look up at her friend's face. Surprised didn't even begin to describe what she felt at that moment. "But I've been lying to you. No one likes a liar. So, I've reason to believe that you won't like me anymore because I've done nothing but maintain a false facade."

"Yet you are nothing like those bandits and assassins we've dealt with before," came Lyn's retort. Her tone of voice was firmer this time. "I admit, being lied to is one thing I cannot appreciate. Perhaps I might say that I hate it, as well; all my life, I have never lied to anyone—that's how we Sacaeans are. We're never dishonest. But after hearing what you have to say and finding your words to be genuine…" She shook her head. "Oh, Nia, I don't think I can even bring myself to even dislike you. Look at you, you're actually crying about this. It means you feel strongly about what you've just done."

She'd been feeling bad about lying like this since the beginning, that was true. So she did nothing to deny that.

"I suppose I could say that I should be too old for crying," Nia murmured and sniffed, the corners of her lips starting to curl up into a happier smile. "You're not mad? Truly?"

"Slightly disappointed and certainly surprised, but no, not mad. I won't press you for the actual truth, Nia, and you can take as long as you want before you finally deem your secret safe to tell. But is there anything else I need to know right now?"

Nia hummed softly as she rummaged her mind for anything she might also need to confess. And… she couldn't think of anything. There were no crazy hunters chasing her to be their prize; as far as she knew, during her travels, no one had stopped her along the way and singled her out as extremely peculiar. Well, peculiar in action, but never in appearance or impression. So, her secret of being a dragon instead of a human shouldn't do anything to Kent, Lyn, and Sain unless she showed them her real form herself. A volcano would have to freeze over before _that_ would happen. Accidentally, of course. Everyone should be fine.

She shook her head. "No, I don't believe so. I really _am_ a traveler before I met you—that's why I left my home, so I can see the world. I've been sheltered for so long, I just couldn't help but run off and do what I've been wanting to do for years. Truth be told, it's been very fun so far." She shrugged. "Well, minus the attacks on our group."

"I see. That's brave of you, then, to embark on a journey all by yourself," Lyn said.

"So… um, you don't mind _not_ knowing what I am?" the manakete proceeded to ask, eyebrows raised.

Lyn flashed her a reassuring smile and gently patted her on the head.

"I'm very curious to find out, but if it really does endanger you… Well, we can't have that, can we? You're still a friend, Nia. I'd hate to see you end up in trouble."

"…And you don't mind _not_ telling Kent or Sain, either?" A pleading, hopeful look was in Nia's eyes as she popped the next question.

That one took longer than usual for Lyn to answer. Considering that it was not the way of a Sacaean to lie, Nia understood why. Admittedly, a selfish part of her was hoping Lyn would say yes and help her out, but the other part was perfectly fine with receiving a blunt _no_. She knew that she couldn't force a person to go against what she'd been raised to be like. That would be like asking Lyn to forget being a Sacaean just to keep a secret.

 _After all_ , she thought. _I_ _'ve asked enough of Lyn. I certainly owe her one after this._

"I can't promise not to say anything if they corner me, but so long as no one asks the kind of questions that requires a direct answer, I believe we should be both fine," Lyn said as her compromise of sorts. Nia would rather take that than anything else. "However, you're going to have to be more careful if you don't want your secret exposed. Whatever it truly is."

"Oh, that's fair enough. I'll handle that situation when it comes," Nia said. This time, she was the one to hug Lyn; she was so relieved and happy, she actually nuzzled her head against the Sacaean. What a huge load taken off her shoulders. It was a very nice feeling. "I really don't know what to say after that. You're just… so kind! I'm so happy to have befriended you."

She felt Lyn's chuckle more than she'd heard it, having felt her friend's body shake. "And I, you. Now, what say you to returning to camp? We've a long journey ahead of us, don't we?"

Nia pulled away and grinned, stepping back and clapping her hands once. "Yes! We're still a duo, and we still have a lot to learn, too. You, with your swordsmanship; and I, with my tactics. I'm glad to see that little will change."

"Indeed. Which reminds me… when we get another moment to rest, I'll get you started on learning how to defend yourself. That would be nice, don't you think?"

A dragon that fights with a sword. In her mind, that actually sounded wicked cool. So if she took up Lyn's offer, then she finally wouldn't be so helpless. Of course, a tactician was better placed at the back of an army where she was safest, plotting out one strategy after another, but if worst came to worst, it would be very useful to wield a weapon and have something to defend herself with. While she was in her human form, anyway. She liked to think that she was a force to be reckoned with as a dragon.

She smacked a fist over her open palm in response, nodding eagerly. "Ah, yes, to be able to get back at any miscreants who dare harm my friends. I think that's a splendid idea!"

"Ah, judging from that reaction, I can see that you're feeling much better now. That's good." Lyn glanced at their campsite, with Nia following her friend's gaze and noticing that the two knights had finally gotten up and started packing up their things. Sain seemed to be commenting about something, making Kent stop from rolling up his own bedroll and shooting Sain what appeared to be a nasty glare that could probably pierce through several layers of brick walls. A second or two later, Sain raised his hands in mock surrender before proceeding to check up their steeds, two apples in hand.

"I think I'll be much better now, yes." Nia agreed. And then something occurred to her as she was suddenly aware of what was in her hand again. "Oh, wait a minute…"

"Hm? Is something wrong?"

The manakete awkwardly scratched her cheek with a finger as she held out an open palm, hair clips on top of it. She grinned toothily; now that Lyn was alright with her otherness, she didn't have to be self-conscious about her sharp, longer canines.

"I, ah, don't suppose you can help me fix my hair more properly now, then? It's long enough to cover my ears, but I need my hair to stay in place—and to keep the tips of my ears less noticeable."

Lyn laughed softly and took hold of the gold-colored clips. "Alright. I can do that. You know, this reminds me of the times I used to play with my best friend Florina's hair. I wonder how she's doing…"

Nia knew that this wasn't going to be the last time she would have to deal with this issue. But for now... she was going to be alright. And that was what mattered.

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

 **Log Entry #3** _(wait, are the previous pages filled with doodles counted as logs_ _…?)_

(a simple picture of the mountain range separating Bern and Sacae is drawn here as clean zigzagged lines, the empty space on the upper half labeled as Sacae and the lower half as Bern; there is the text "We are here!" written alongside an arrow pointing at the mountains)

 _You know, I_ _'m not really sure what Lyn, Kent, and Sain meant when told me I needed something better to play with when I'm bored instead of messing with what I end up finding around our campsite. I really don't. But it's probably something I shouldn't think too much on, because I did purchase this logbook five days ago at their insistence! I've always liked drawing and writing. It's twice as fun when I do both._

 _So hello, my leathered friend! It_ _'s been some time since I last did anything here; perhaps you'll want to be filled in on what's been happening for the last few days. I've got_ _lots_ _of time for storytelling, you know. We_ _'re just settling down for the night here, and while Kent keeps telling me not to write in the dark 'cause it's bad for the eyes, I still insist that the campfire is bright enough to let me do so comfortably._

 _But then_ _… ummm, honestly speaking (or writing, in this case), there hasn't been much to say about this journey so far. Well, there was that one time when Kent and Sain had to chase their horses because they weren't tethered well enough and that loud, booming thunder really scared the poor steeds… not to mention I accidentally fell into a mud puddle because the ground was slippery from the rain… but other than those events mentioned, nope! Not much happening in this group. And, no, nobody's asked me anything about… well, you know! Lyn's really quiet about it, but I think she's taken to making the occasional joke about my ears when it's just the two of us around while our two lovely knights go hunt for food. Or while_ _we_ _end up doing that._

 _(I tried expressing my thanks by cooking food for Lyn_ _… but that didn't go well and everyone decided that I'm better off doing something else. At least the bedrolls didn't catch fire…)_

 _Indeed, nothing much has changed. Kent_ _'s as serious as ever. Sain's never not flirtatious, and Lyn's as nice as can be! And me… well, I don't really know. I'm as wingless as ever, and I miss those pair of feathery things—they're so convenient to have around. Oh! But I am starting to learn how to use a sword. Lyn bought me one a couple days ago. She's had me doing simple exercises for now, but we'll probably soon get on to actually swinging the sword._

 _That said, tomorrow is going to be our tenth day away from the plains. I think we_ _'ve quite a long way to go before we reach Caelin, but hey, I'm happy to see we're making progress! It's good that no one's attacking us so far. It was nice getting some rest for once, but despite the duller days that passed, each day was just as interesting as the previous one. Oh, now my heart's all aflutter about what tomorrow will bring. I heard the route we'll be walking through will have plentiful bandits. I know we'll survive, though. My friends are amazing combatants!_

… _I think I'll go sleep now before I really can't find myself doing that. Sorry to cut this short, friend. I'll see you whenever!_

(the log entry ends with a doodle of the two knights of Caelin running after their horses)

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

For lack of any generous description, the next area that Nia and the others were going to passed through was thoroughly thrashed.

Everywhere the manakete looked, bits and pieces of broken stone and burnt wood could be seen, with the blood spatters on the nearby ruined houses indicating signs of struggle from what had attacked here. There were still some houses that remained intact and mostly undamaged, but Nia knew she didn't have to enter through the door just to find out that it had been abandoned. She wasn't entirely sure whether to be relieved or not that there were no corpses littering the area. And with the mountain range looming over them and casting shadows over the wreckage, the whole thing felt quite… dismal. Even the bright, morning sun above and the cloudless sky failed to make things feel better.

"Oh, dear," Nia said softly as she and the others solemnly traversed the ruined area. "This is certainly not what I was expecting to see today. What a sad sight."

It reminded her of what humans could be capable of, actually. True, she'd already learned enough of that from those enemies that Lyn, Kent, and Sain had felled for the past few days, not to mention the tales she'd heard over the centuries from those that knew the Scouring well, but she had yet to be unsurprised to discover human-made destruction on a scale as large as this one. Sometimes, she still couldn't help but wonder why humans go out of their way to create conflict. There was never such a problem back at home, and the worst fight she'd ever witnessed was about why so-and-so should really stop insisting on cooking tonight's dinner because the meals just end up reminiscent of a lump of coal.

"Is there no marquess to keep things in order around these parts?" Sain questioned aloud, his upbeat attitude toned down at the horrid sight. "Look at this place. It's ruined—almost beyond repair, judging from some of the houses here."

Lyn was barely keeping in her rage as she regarded one house with its door completely broken down. "I would wish that was the case. Unfortunately, no one holds power here in Taliver Mountain. I'd wager there's far too many vicious and ruthless bandits living in the mountains for any semblance of order to be maintained." The hand holding on to the hilt of Mani Katti clenched tight, knuckles growing white. "My village was located on the other side of the mountains. Nia already knows what happened, but I'll tell it again: my people were brutally murdered on one fateful night. The survivors had counted to less than ten, me included—I don't know where they have relocated now. I hope they're safe."

"I'm sorry you had to relive the memory again," Nia then said, kindly. "We should get as far away from this place as possible, then. For every second spent here, we risk being attacked by these awful bandits."

From beside the manakete, the Sacaean nodded down at her. "As much as I would love to sink my blade through their flesh, I agree. And it's okay, Nia. I only thought Kent and Sain needed to know. And to understand why I have every intention of coming back here after I meet my grandfather. My people will be avenged. I swear it."

"Then count me in once the time comes," Sain then said. Nia turned to find a grin on his face. A confident one. "I'm not about to let milady do this alone. What say you, Kent?"

"Of course." Kent said with a nod. And just a bit dryly, he said to Sain, "Someone has to keep you in line while you're up and about."

The knight in green could only grin boyishly in response. Nia giggled.

"Well, what _is_ a group of warriors without someone directing them in a battle of epic proportions?" She said cheerily and linked her arm with Lyn's, smiling up at her. "You can count me in, too. I still owe you my life. And then some. Although, hehe, I'll still help even if I didn't."

The Sacaean at that moment could hardly believe what she'd heard. The manakete could easily see the pleasant surprise in her friend's eyes. Nia, in turn, hoped that her friend noticed the genuineness in her words.

And Lyn did. She might have looked emotional for a moment, having expected to embark on her future task alone. _Silly._ "I… oh, you three. Thank you."

"No problemo," the tactician-in-training replied. "Now, shall we get moving? I like imagining what it's like to breathe the cool air at the top of the mountain, but considering what, exactly, can be found here, I expect the experience to be completely ruined."

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

Afternoon had set in nice and hot by the time that Nia found her first Taliver village not hugely affected by the mountain bandits' existence. And knowing that this implied finally getting a moment to rest from all the hiking they just did, she suddenly felt revitalized, ironically, and found herself grinning widely; she was all too eager to come skipping past the village gates before anyone from the group could make a single peep.

She stopped and turned on her heel, waving at her equally tired companions to hurry up, up, up. _Rest! Relaxation! Hiking is not very fun to do on (human) foot_.

Because she'd found hiking to be torturous. She might have suddenly wondered how people managed to do this every day. Her legs were aching, her throat was dry, and right now she absolutely sympathized with the horses that had to suffer the whole mountain trip, too. The dragon in her was having a hard time picturing these people coming and going without any complaints of weak knees or stinging feet. Flying was so much easier and far less of a hassle.

…Perhaps she _was_ spoiled too much by her wings because she spent far more time off the ground than _on_. Even if she'd done so much walking in the past already—ever since she left home—nothing made her more tired than climbing up a slope continuously.

Now that she thought about it… if there was one thing she had to admire about her human peers, it would be their resilience and their ability to adapt to different situations. Nia couldn't even sit still and let her wings molt when it happened.

The manakete quickly shook that thought away, instantly deciding then and there that she will no longer remember that dreadful memory. Before she knew it, the rest of the group was soon in front of her. With one last grin thrown their way, she turned around and started searching for a building that hinted to being an inn.

But then she faltered, and she found herself blinking. She had a puzzled frown on her face as she drank in the sight before her. "Huh."

The village wasn't really that large, but it surely had most of the necessities that a passing traveler would have wanted to find. Like a tiny inn. Or a tiny tavern. So long as there was a bed she could rest her head on, Nia thought she'd be fine. And, yes, there were far more residential homes than commercial ones here, obviously, but that was to be expected in a place like this.

But that wasn't what she was getting at. Rather, the village would have to be inhabited for these houses to be standing around this large plot of land in the first place.

And that was the problem.

There was hardly any person around.

The last one the manakete saw had quickly ducked into his home without so much as a hello. Fear. She sensed fear from his intention to keep hiding until she and the others went away. Her shoulders drooped.

"Not quite the village we expected to visit, huh?" Sain came to ask the manakete. He was holding onto the reins of his horse in one hand, having climbed down to walk on foot.

"I suppose everyone has reason to be wary when they live in a dangerous area," Kent then mused. She wasn't surprised to see how cautious the knight was being right now, considering how he seemed like he was one nasty surprise away from completely pulling out his sword. He might have also shifted closer to Lyn, ready to protect the Sacaean should the worst happen. Even though Nia highly doubted that Lyn couldn't handle whatever that worst thing was…

Still, the quiet was just too… _quiet_. She could practically hear a _feather_ drop. And did she just see someone peeking from a nearby window?

Nia turned to stare to her left with wide, curious eyes, waiting for her peeper to pop again. He didn't.

"I… don't think I like this," was all the manakete could say, slightly hurt at the reception. She would have been perfectly alright with indifference, but… why the fear? And why the intention to resort to bodily harm if she so much as knocked on the door?

"Wary or not, this is odd behavior on the villagers' part." Lyn said, making Nia break away from her thoughts. The Sacaean regarded her surroundings more warily, eyebrows knitted closely together. "The only time when a village goes quiet like this is when there are—"

"Hey!"

Nia's ears twitched at the new voice, and her lavender eyes soon rested upon a newcomer that was running towards them with urgency. She knew her friends turned to look at the man, too, hearing their soft footfalls and clanking armor.

The red-haired man stopped several feet away from them. He had a bow in his hand and an arrow in another, ready to be nocked and shot. At them.

"Alright," he said. He gave the group a quick once-over. Nia bet those sharp eyes of his actually took in a lot more detail than anyone would think. "I hope you people aren't bandits, because I'd rather things don't turn messy."

Nia blinked. Bandits? Oh, that explained a lot of things.

"Mess is something we'd all prefer to avoid," Nia immediately replied before anyone else could. She stepped forward from the group with her hands clasped behind her, completely disregarding the weapon being held threateningly by the archer.

She knew that this man was just aiming—pun unintended—to protect the villagers because there were bandits in the area; she understood his caution. And now that he'd confirmed that she and the rest of the group were too polished, too _clean_ to be bandits, he wasn't going to shoot them down. _That_ intention was lost to the wind. Blown away by a powerful Excalibur spell.

She also sensed Lyn growing an urge to pull the manakete back, so before the woman could actually do anything, Nia shot her friend behind her a reassuring smile before returning her attention to the archer.

"We're not bandits. Is something about to happen here?" Nia asked next, adopting an innocent tone. She immediately got the result she wanted: he lowered his bow and relaxed his grip on the bowstring, returning the arrow to the quiver behind him. It helped that she was being genuine for the most part, she supposed.

"I believe so, yes. We've caught glimpses of some bandits circling the village. Seems like they feel like doing a visit today," he said. After no one from the group made any move against him, he visibly relaxed. An apologetic smile stretched across his face. "Sorry about that. Gotta be cautious, you know. Are you travelers, then?"

"We are," Lyn said. She stepped forward to stand beside Nia, placing a hand on her shoulder and gently pulling her back as her way of saying _I_ _'ll handle this_. The manakete complied with a nod and took her place between Kent and Sain. "Bandits are about, you say? Then we'll help drive them off before we go on our way."

Obviously, no one was going to dispute that. Bandits were rarely decent people, even if Nia sometimes thought that some of those kinds of humans probably resorted to banditry due to some troubles in their lives. Well, it _was_ possible; things weren't always so black and white. But either way, she wasn't really about to have qualms about some people deciding attacking innocents was a great idea.

The red-haired archer finally offered a toothy smile. "That's good, then! My name's Wil. I'm a traveler of sorts, too. So hey, listen, I owe these villagers a lot for helping me out while I stayed here. I'd be glad to help you guys fight these bandits off."

"Well, we _do_ need some ranged firepower," Nia admitted and returned the grin. She gestured to the people around her with a hand. "Lyn, Kent, and Sain here are melee combatants. I'm undependable in actual combat 'cause I'm a strategist, not a fighter, so I believe some long-ranged attacks would help us plenty!"

"Ah, Nia, you never fail to look lovely while you're all fired," Sain then said with his usual grin, making the manakete beam up at him.

By this point, Kent had known that his green-armored friend had no effect on Nia whatsover. He merely shook his head in bemusement and said, "Then it's settled. We get ready for battle and await them outside."

"Indeed," Lyn agreed. She was about to say something else, but a noise from above had made her immediately look up, her eyes widening. Nia could have sworn she heard someone shout, and for that matter… did she just hear a horse whinny?

Oh, she did. Before Nia knew it, a winged horse—a pegasus—had descended before the group with a mighty beat of its wings, producing a sudden gust of wind that made Nia's immediately hold on to the hair covering her ears. At the same time, she couldn't believe her eyes. She was looking at a real, live _pegasus_. She'd only known of a creature like this in books; pegasi were only found up north in Ilia, and women were the only ones they allowed to become their riders. As for the reason why, Nia didn't really know. She hadn't even the faintest clue how they came into existence.

A lilac-haired girl with a petite frame then clambered down the animal, and without pausing, she immediately made a beeline for Lyn and wrapped the Sacaean in a tight embrace.

"Florina?" Lyn said, startled, and the moment recognition completely sank in, she smiled widely and hugged the girl back. Except that smile faltered when she realized that the girl, Florina, was crying. The smaller girl's shoulders were shaking. "What's wrong?"

Florina pulled back and wiped her eyes. "B-bandits, Lyn. I… you see… I've learned that you've left Sacae, so I decided to go to follow you. I… I saw this village, came down to ask around, but… but…"

"But?" Lyn asked in a gentle tone.

"But I didn't see these two m-men, so Huey accidentally stepped on them." A fresh set of tears pooled in Florina's eyes, and she quickly wiped them with the back of her hand. "They… got mad… They nearly accosted me, Lyn! I said sorry over and over and over, but they wouldn't listen. I managed to get away from them before they captured me. But I think they saw me head here, and now… n-now, they'll be here soon. And there might not be just two of them anymore." She buried her head in Lyn's chest, crying, "Oh, Lyn, this is all my fault!"

Lyn started stroking Florina's hair, a calming gesture that definitely had an effect on the girl. Florina relaxed, somewhat. "Shh, Florina. They would have done terrible things to you had you not fled. I'm glad to see you're okay. Don't cry."

"O-okay." The girl gave one last sniff.

"Hum, it appears that we definitely need to get out of here soon, then," Nia finally said. "Villages usually shut the gates during an attack, right? So let's give them the opportunity to do so while we deal with the mess outside."

Sain, Kent, and Wil nodded in agreement. Florina finally realized that Lyn wasn't only the person around, and with widened eyes, she pulled away from her friend and regarded the rest of the group half-shyly, half-questioningly. "Um, Lyn? Who are they?"

"Friends, Florina. Nia is the short girl over there, Kent is the one in red armor, Sain in green, and that archer is Wil. They'll be helping in protecting this village from the bandits." Lyn explained.

"Just so you know," Wil then added. The manakete supposed that the man was also cheerful in nature—his personality bled into his tone of voice. "There's also another village up north. I'm pretty sure they'll want to be warned, as well. I would have done so… but it's not wise to go alone, y'know?"

"Indeed," Sain agreed. "And I'm fairly certain that you'll be going quite a ways before you get there. The high walls standing outside this village make navigating northward complicated." He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, unless you're desperate enough to scale the wall and cross to the other side. On the plus side, the layout of this area is complicated enough that even the bandits wouldn't attack that other village so easily."

Nia might have noticed a pleasantly surprised look on Kent just then. It was subtle because the red-armored cavalier was still sporting his normal, serious expression, but she _did_ notice the way his eyebrows rose slightly just then. She supposed that Kent was far too used to Sain noticing women first that he didn't expect his friend to have actually taken note of the path the group had taken. Heck, make that a good fraction of the area's layout.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Nia decided to say, putting her own thoughts to a stop before they completely took over. "Let's get out of here, save the other village, and deal with these bandits! I'll come up with something as we go. You'll see!"

"Of course," Lyn said. She looked down at the timid girl, a comforting hand on her shoulder. "What about you, Florina? You're a pegasus knight, aren't you? Will you be able to fight? I know you're uncomfortable around men, so I understand if you back out."

For a moment, the thought of fighting seemed to have made Florina look ill. Pale, even. But determination sparked in her eyes, replacing unease, and with a more confident look and a squaring of her shoulders, she told Lyn, "Yes! I'll help."

"I'm glad." the Sacaean gave her one last smile before turned to address everyone. Nia didn't fail to notice the fire in her eyes. "Alright, everyone. This encounter will perhaps be more different than what we've already faced. If these bandits are who I think they are, then we ought not to take them lightly. Is everyone ready?"

Nia nodded and said yes, her voice mixing in with those of Kent, Sain, and Wils. Smacking her fist loudly on an open palm, she then said with a grin, "Then let's get out of here and teach them a lesson!"

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

With the gates of the village safely shut behind them, the villagers forewarned of the bandits coming closer and closer, Nia and the rest of the group stepped further out into the open. The afternoon sun was harsh on her vision if she tried staring straight ahead, but she definitely didn't fail to notice the tall walls that practically made the area appear reminiscent of a maze. Up to her northwest was another mountain that helped divide the southern town from the northern town, and the manakete immediately decided that scaling the wall—or hiking up the mountain—would not be a good tactical decision. It would just take too much time and waste energy that could be spent on fighting.

"Nia," Kent began, riding up to the manakete. Sain, who was also atop his horse with a lance in hand, wasn't far behind. "Sain and I have done a fair bit of scouting to our east. And I believe the gap between the walls would make a good funnel for the incoming bandits."

She immediately knew where the cavalier was heading. "So you and Sain would want to block that opening. And, uh…" Her eyes glimpsed Wil from afar, who was more than ready to put his bow and arrows to good use. "Oh! And with Wil providing long-ranged attacks for support, you guys should be able to thin out their numbers without fatally jeopardizing your lives. That… works, actually!"

"Then you approve?" Sain piped up. "Wonderful! Kent and I shall head there now." And he winked. "Of course, it would be quite worth the effort if we managed to awe you ladies, as well."

Nia snorted. "Hah! If you say so. Go on, then, gentlemen. Keep them busy! Oh, and Wil?" She quickly stepped forward to tug at the archer's arm before he could follow the departing cavaliers. "I think you could make good use of the walls here and fly your arrows past them. You'll never know if someone's directly across you!"

Wil grinned. "I'll have to know that someone _is_ right over there, but I understand what you're getting at. So you really are a tactician, huh?"

"In training, actually!" The lie, as usual, came out of her smoothly. "But yes, for the most part, I am. Don't let me keep you, okay? Go on, and let those arrows zip through the air!"

The archer gave the manakete a cheery, two-fingered salute before turning away and showering the oncoming bandits with arrows. The enemy had finally arrived, and, knowing that they've been met with opposition, didn't think twice about rushing in with many battle cries.

The manakete turned on her heel to check up on Florina and Lyn, the latter who already had the Mani Katti out and ready to strike at the first person to attack them. The shorter girl was stroking the pegasus' mane from her saddle with a free hand; the other held a slim lance. Huey (she figured that was, indeed, the pegasus' name) seemed to enjoy the display of affection.

"So, my peerless warrior," Nia started, catching their attention. "She's a friend of yours, yes?"

"Yes, Nia. She's my best friend." Lyn replied, allowing a fond smile on her face as she regarded the girl. "She's also a pegasus knight-in-training."

The girl, Florina, smiled shyly down at her and stopped stroking the mane. "Um, N-nia, right? I'm pleased to meet you. I'm at your command."

The manakete offered Florina a sunny grin that made the timid girl ease up in return. "We're glad to have you aboard. So, while Sain, Kent and Wil are keeping those bandits back, we need to warn the village to the north of here that there are bandits around. The thing is, I'm afraid I don't own a pair of wings to fly myself over the wall and reach that village before the bandits do." _And_ , she thought, _if I did anyway, I would just end up endangering myself_. "Which leaves… you, Florina. There's no doubt that there are more enemies on the other side of the wall, so… yes, Lyn, you go ride with her."

"And what about you, Nia? What will you do?"

"I'm going to stay safe, give more sage advice to my other peerless warriors, and be the best tactician I can be," Nia said confidently, spinning on her heel with her arms stretched out. Though on the inside, she _did_ doubt herself. Just a bit. She stopped as she faced the two again. "But watch out for any flying arrows, whether they be ours or theirs. Pegasi don't deal with arrows well, and neither do their riders."

And just at that moment, an arrow _did_ zip towards her and pin her cloak on the ground. Relieved to have not been hit, she bent down to unstuck the stupid thing and tossed it aside. She looked back up at Lyn and Florina who, for the moment, seemed to be stunned into silence. Nia stared back at them as if nothing happened.

"As I was saying! Take notes of our battlefield, too, please. I need to know how many bandits we'll be facing."

At this, Lyn finally thawed, chuckling (more out of relief) before stepping to ride up the pegasus. Florina extended a hand and helped pull her friend up until she was mounted and comfortably settled in the saddle.

"You know, Nia," Lyn said as Florina took hold of Huey's reins. "You sound more and more like a tactician every day."

"It happens when a huge load is taken off my shoulders. I could focus on more immediate things," Nia replied instantly, a knowing look in her eyes. One that Lyn reflected all too easily. She then made a shoo-shoo gesture and grinned. "Now go on! Kent, Sain, and Wil would very much like some support soon! We'll push forward as much as we can, but things will be easier when you both are back."

"We're on it," Lyn said. "Florina, let's go."

"Okay. Huey, take us up, please," The timid girl took on a more determined expression before letting her steed flap its wings and make them rise higher and higher in the air. A few feathers floated down from the action, and soon enough, they were off. And while no one was looking at her, she plucked one of the feathers in the air, stuffed it in her bag, and returned her attention to Kent, Sain, and Wil. She had to duck out of the way of some flying arrows, but she eventually made it to the three men without anything immediately threatening her life.

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

With a few clean strikes of Lyn's blade and a finishing stab through the heart via Florina's spear, the mercenary the two girls had double-teamed finally collapsed to the ground, dead. Several feet behind them stood the now-closed gates of the village, the task of warning the villagers accomplished long before they were attacked by more bandits. So, not only had they cleared this particular area of bandits, they'd also ended up two thousand Gold richer. And with an armory said to be located somewhere in the southeast from here…

After cleaning Mani Katti and returning it to its sheath, Lyn pulled open her satchel, made sure the pouch of money was still there, and tied shut the thing again after confirming that the money was safe and secure. Despite the seriousness of the current situation, she couldn't help but smile, just a bit. Because when she paused to think about what had just happened today…

"Lyn…? I think we need to come back to the others now," Florina, Lyn's best friend, said softly. Yes, Florina was the reason why today seemed a better day than the previous ones. She'd been thinking about the shy girl, and how she was doing as she trained to become a pegasus knight. Now the Sacaean didn't have to wonder any more; she'd just seen her friend in action, and while Florina was still deathly afraid of men, she managed to put all her combat knowledge to use and aided Lyn in killing all these bandits.

Father Sky and Mother Earth, how she'd missed her timid but sweet friend.

"Right, of course." Lyn agreed, and soon, she was back up into the air and clinging onto her friend for support as the wind blew against them, threatening to send either one of them falling off the pegasus. Lyn, mostly, but still. "So tell me, Florina, what made you think of going this far south of Ilia? And I mean the specifics."

"I…" Florina started, trying to find the right words to express her thoughts with. Failing that, she softly said, "Well, you know about the knighting ceremony of the Pegasus Knights of Ilia, right?"

"I still do, yes. You set out to join a band of freelance soldiers to further your training."

"Yes, exactly. I wanted to see you again, Lyn, before I went on. To… talk to you before I'm gone for a while. I visited you on your home in Sacae, but you were gone. S-so I decided to go to Bulgar next, because I knew you liked going there from time to time. B-but you weren't there, either, so I had to stop and think about what to do next. I know some people know you by face, at least, so I, um, decided to ask them where you could have headed to." She said. "I was really worried about you… I didn't want to turn back until I was sure you're safe on whatever journey you've taken. They said you were being accompanied by two knights and a little girl to… um, Caelin, if I've heard right. You _are_ going to Caelin, yes?"

"I am. I would explain more, but now's not really a good time," Lyn said. She actually felt warm on the inside after she listened to Florina relay all of that. To know that, despite all the bad things that had happened in her life, she still had someone to go to for unconditional support… it made the Sacaean feel good. Really good. "And I guess you managed to fly this way, saw the town, decided to ask there, and accidentally hit those bandits?"

"Yes…" Florina said. "And now I'm happy, Lyn. W-well, after we dealt with those bandits and I found you, anyway. I'm glad to see you're okay—I don't think I'll be able to live with myself if something bad happened to you… You worried me when I heard you set off with some strangers."

"Oh, Florina, Nia and the others are actually very kind. Nia, especially—she made sure I was always comfortable around her and the others. Though, I admit, I had a feeling that it's Nia who seemed to be making an effort to fit in. Not me," Lyn said. No kidding, considering what she'd just learned about her. From behind the smaller girl, she gently squeezed Florina's arm. "That said, I'm glad that you're okay, as well. You're my best friend, Florina. You'll always be." The Sacaean smiled. "As for your current problem finding a mercenary group, I'll help you out and see what I can come up with. But let's join back up with the others first, alright?"

"Yes, Lyn, of course!"

* * *

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

* * *

"So, Wil," Sain began, managing to steer his horse clear of the bandit's axe swing before he retaliated with a jab of his lance. He missed by an inch, but then Wil was there to shoot the bastard clean in the head. The moment the arrow pierced the bandit's skull, the man dropped dead. "What's an archer like you doing all the way over here? Come for the ladies, I hope, because I _did_ spot a few pretty ones peeping by the windows earlier. I could use another friend with similar interests."

Nia, as she watched their interaction from her hiding spot by the corner of the wall, couldn't help but chuckle at the two men. Oh, she definitely liked Wil from the get-go, alright. The man was still quite cheery as he let loose arrow upon arrow at his enemies, not even shooting the green-armored knight an odd glance and merely taking things in stride.

Kent, on the other hand… well, just now, he _might_ have struck down that bandit he was fighting with just a liiiiittle too much intensity.

Wil laughed and then replied, "Not exactly! Sorry. To be honest, I just go wherever my feet take me these days. I merely happened upon this village by chance." He readied another arrow. "Incoming from your left, by the way."

Sain switched to his sword this time—thank goodness—and met the axe of the new bandit. The man might have received a few injuries as they exchanged blows, the clanging metal painful to the manakete's ears as she listened, but by the end of that particular fight, Sain didn't look all that winded. Bleeding slightly at his one arm and at the side of his waist, but definitely not winded. Just sweaty, Nia noted, and a touch tired. A vulnerary should fix the injuries. Not so much for the tiredness.

Then again, to be fair, _everyone_ would be fatigued from this fight. At least it wasn't all for nothing; the group Nia was supervising (for the most part; everyone seemed to know what to do beyond the simple commands she'd given) had managed to push their position forward, bit by bit, and at the same time thinning the bandits' numbers. The walls surrounding them made for a decent funnel, and although there were quite a few arrows flying in an arc from the other side of the wall because they _also_ had their own archer, Wil managed to make an estimate of its trajectory and returned a shot of his own. The surprised yelp of pain from the other side had revealed that the archer had hit his mark.

"My thanks for the warning, Wil! You, friend, have quite the sharp set of eyes," Sain said, grinning. The coast was currently clear, and the group (plus Nia) moved on. From their current standpoint, the stony rooftop of a building could be seen. Probably an armory, judging from the metallic smell Nia's nose had picked up.

"Yes, well, it comes with the profession," Wil then replied cheerily. He patted his bow for emphasis. "I can't call myself an archer if I don't make the most use of my eyes."

"That would be like not flying when you have perfectly functional wings. Ooh, you might as well cut them off if that's the case," Nia piped up from behind the group, causing the archer to grin at her and nod in agreement.

"So, anywho, we've pretty much established at this point that your group are a bunch of travelers." Wil said. "But there's probably more to you guys than that."

"I suppose you can say that," Kent said. He'd taken the lead of the current group, and he was cautiously checking his surroundings from time to time as he progressed.

"What he means to say is," Nia said. "We're traveling to Caelin to solve a family dispute. Well, and to make sure Lyn gets there safe and sound 'cause she's involved. It's a rather nasty business, this Caelin thing."

"That's one way to put it, milady," Kent responded. "But hopefully, once we get there things will go to our favor. I would certainly appreciate being attacked less often by the assassins being sent our way by Lord Lungdren."

Nia certainly would; when was the last time anyone had any decent sleep these days? It hadn't gotten bad enough to the point that everyone was drowsy and irritable, but ending up waking in the middle of the night due to some suspicious sounds could get rather tiring. And annoying. Hmm, if she wasn't there to keep everyone from descending into a bad mood, who knew what would have happened?

Wil grimaced at the thought their pursuers. "Yikes, then you guys haven't been having a smooth journey, then."

"Unfortunately," Sain then said. And then an idea seemed to occur to him the moment he cast a side glance at Wil's bow again. He immediately brightened up. "Hey. Wil, you've mentioned that you've been wandering aimlessly, right? So I was thinking, how would _you_ like to join our merry band of fighters? The more the merrier."

"Sain, you do realize that you'll have to consult Lyndis for that first, don't you?" came Kent's immediate response. "Or, for that matter, you should have at least consulted Nia first. She is our tactician, after all."

"Then so I shall, my boon companion! What say you, sweet Nia?"

The manakete perked up at the sudden attention thrown her way.

"Oh? Er, refer to my we-need-long-ranged-fighters statement from earlier, if you will, Kent. And Sain," Nia replied. And knowing just what to say to appease the ever so serious knight, she added, "But I say we inform Lyn first. Even just as a courtesy, because I know Wil is a welcome addition to this odd bunch of ours!"

If Sain wasn't currently in front of her or she'd done her best to keep pace with the cavalier, she might have exchanged quick grins with the person. Oh, well. Maybe next time.

"Well… Tagging along doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually. I've been broke ever since my money had been stolen, so I truly am at a bit of a crossroads," Wil said. This here was a man who was definitely more of a cheerful one, Nia decided as another smile wove its way into his face. "I'd say I'll be grateful if you'll have me! But sure, I don't mind hearing what your friend has to say about this. She's the leader of this group, huh?"

Lyn. Leader.

Nia had… never really thought of it that way, actually. Then again, Lyn, in this situation, was actually of—what was it called? Oh, right—noble blood, making Sain and Kent… well, placed lower on whatever hierarchy existed in their group. She didn't really know where to place herself as this group's tactician, but everyone had more or less treated each other equally. That is, maybe Lyn _was_ treated a bit more respectfully by the two men the moment it was established that she was, indeed, a noble.

The memory of Lyn informing the two men not to treat her any different flooded her mind, and she couldn't help but smile a bit at that as the group of four walked onward, nearing what was, indeed, an armory. It was just too bad that none of them had much money to go by, other than food. It would have probably been nice to have backup weapons when the group's current ones finally broke down. She might be a dragon who could end up doing far more dragon-y things, but she still knew the mechanics of weapon usage, thank you very much. She had her books for that.

"Yes, I suppose," the manakete admitted.

Speaking of whom, though, she noticed a shadow that suddenly blocked out the sun's rays, making her stop in her tracks and blink as it grew larger and larger. By the time the rest of the group realized that someone had just come to them, Florina and Lyn had reached the ground with victorious looks on their faces.

"Welcome back!" Nia greeted. "So I suppose this means that we can finally reach the end game of this particular skirmish? How did your trip go, and are there any more reinforcements coming?"

After descending from the pegasus and tucking a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, Lyn informed Nia of having successfully warned off the village, as well as informing the manakete of how many bandits were left, where they were located, and that the group now had some more money to spend on necessities with. The latter part was good—great, even. That meant they definitely could purchase some new weapons in case of breakage with their current ones.

Nia, in turn, reported what had been currently happening while they were gone. Which were, indeed, not much other than hacking and slashing stinky, nasty bandits into pieces and making a pincushion out of them, but she told Lyn all of it all the same. She also told her about adding Wil to their group, which Lyn decided was a good idea, and something they'll discuss once the battle was over.

"For now, let's focus on finding the leader of these particular group of bandits," Lyn said. With a side glance at Florina, she added with ill-concealed venom, "I believe I will also want to exchange words with him, after he'd tried capturing Florina here."

The manakete easily agreed, and for a moment, felt sorry for the remaining bandits that would be the recipient of the Sacaean's wrath.

* * *

 **Yeaaah, I had to stop at some point, and this feels like a good part to do so. Otherwise, I'll end up going way beyond 10k words, which is the average word count for this particular chapter. The Migal fight will be concluded next chapter, because honestly, I'd rather people be able to finish this in one sitting.**

 **Also, this whole draft is rough as can be, given that I have a bit of a time limitation to write and edit. So as time passes, I'll do some polishing as I go. I kinda wanted to practice doing character interactions since the amount of experience I have with those is... well, not that much, so I also leave it to your judgement as to how well I've done this chapter. It's not the best thing I've written, but hey, we write stuff like these so we could get better. It's definitely a start. XD  
**

 **And sorry for the long wait, guys! Hopefully, I've made up for that with this one. If I didn't, at least I tried. I've grown quite a bit rusty in writing for this story, so hopefully I get back into the swing of things and do much better.**


End file.
